> Yes there is: "ohh, gcc, that's not a true optimizing compiler". I searched this whole thread for mentions of GCC, and I didn't find anything like this. Are

> Yes there is: "ohh, gcc, that's not a true optimizing compiler". I searched this whole thread for mentions of GCC, and I didn't find anything like this. Are you referring to the part about having to use a different language than C or C++ if you want this kind of optimization? (I agree with you that "look, there is an old paper describing a research compiler in a research setting on self-chosen benchmarks" is not the same as production compilers doing the same thing in practice.)