I've been several times in the situation of having to push the language to its limits for performance, and gcc documentation was of great help. But, maybe it's

I've been several times in the situation of having to push the language to its limits for performance, and gcc documentation was of great help. But, maybe it's a nice property of gcc, maybe it's a nice property of gcc's documentation, I never felt I had to learn some dirty trick for gcc in particular. I always understood the principle behind the implementation, and the code I wrote as a consequence was better in principle, too. Summing up, knowing your tool is a must, but if you find yourself doing its job, than it's time to at least question your choice.