Cpu Cache Opt

mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills/skills/low-level-programming/cpu-cache-opt

by mohitmishra786bdc58472fa9fNo license253 starsListed Oct 9, 2026Updated Oct 9, 2026Repository updated 3 months ago

CPU cache optimization skill for C/C++ and Rust. Use when diagnosing cache misses, improving data layout for cache efficiency, using perf stat cache counters, understanding false sharing, prefetching, or structuring AoS vs SoA data layouts. Activates on queries about cache misses, cache lines, false sharing, perf cache counters, data layout optimization, prefetch, AoS vs SoA, or L1/L2/L3 cache performance.

Instructions onlySoftware Development
AI-generated overview

Guides cache-aware C/C++ and Rust programming: diagnosing cache misses, data layout, false sharing and prefetching.

What it does
This skill provides instructional guidance for cache-aware programming in C/C++ and Rust. It walks through measuring cache performance with perf stat counters, cache line basics and alignment, AoS versus SoA data layout transformations, common cache-unfriendly patterns, false sharing detection and padding fixes, manual prefetching, and cache-friendly algorithm design such as loop blocking. It produces explanations and code examples rather than files or scripts.
When to use it
Use it when diagnosing high cache miss rates, deciding between AoS and SoA layouts, investigating false sharing in multithreaded code, applying prefetch hints, or measuring L1/L2/L3 cache behavior with perf. It is aimed at performance work on C/C++ or Rust code where memory access patterns matter.
Requirements
No scripts are shipped; it is instructions only. Following the measurement steps requires perf on Linux and a compiled C/C++ or Rust program; the code examples use compiler intrinsics and standard headers.

CPU Cache Optimization

Purpose

Guide agents through cache-aware programming: diagnosing cache misses with perf, data layout transformations (AoS→SoA), false sharing detection and fixes, prefetching, and cache-friendly algorithm design.

Triggers

  • "My program has high cache miss rates — how do I fix it?"
  • "What is false sharing and how do I detect it?"
  • "Should I use AoS or SoA data layout?"
  • "How do I measure cache performance with perf?"
  • "How do I use __builtin_prefetch?"
  • "My multithreaded program is slower than single-threaded due to cache"

Workflow

1. Measure cache performance

bash
# Basic cache countersperf stat -e cache-references,cache-misses,cycles,instructions ./prog
# L1/L2/L3 miss breakdownperf stat -e \    L1-dcache-load-misses,\    L1-dcache-loads,\    L2-dcache-load-misses,\    LLC-load-misses,\    LLC-loads \    ./prog
# Cache miss rate = L1-dcache-load-misses / L1-dcache-loads# > 5% is concerning; > 20% is severe
# False sharing detectionperf stat -e \    machine_clears.memory_ordering,\    mem_load_l3_hit_retired.xsnp_hitm \    ./prog

2. Cache line basics

  • Cache line size: 64 bytes on x86-64, ARM (most platforms)
  • L1 cache: 32–64 KB, ~4 cycles latency
  • L2 cache: 256 KB–1 MB, ~12 cycles latency
  • L3 cache: 6–64 MB, ~40 cycles latency
  • Main memory: ~200–300 cycles latency
c
// Check cache line sizelong cache_line = sysconf(_SC_LEVEL1_DCACHE_LINESIZE);
// Align data to cache linestruct alignas(64) HotData {    int counter;    // ... 60 bytes of data that fit in one line};
// Ctypedef struct {    int x;} __attribute__((aligned(64))) AlignedData;

3. AoS vs SoA data layout

c
// AoS (Array of Structures) — default layoutstruct Particle {    float x, y, z;     // position (12 bytes)    float vx, vy, vz;  // velocity (12 bytes)    float mass;         // (4 bytes)    int   flags;        // (4 bytes)};Particle particles[N];  // Bad for loops that only need position
// Problem: accessing particles[i].x loads x,y,z,vx,vy,vz,mass,flags// But we only need x,y,z → 75% of loaded data is wasted
// SoA (Structure of Arrays) — cache-friendly for SIMD + sequential accessstruct ParticlesSoA {    float *x, *y, *z;    float *vx, *vy, *vz;    float *mass;    int   *flags;};
// Accessing x[i] for i=0..N loads 16 consecutive x values → 0% waste// Also auto-vectorizes better

4. Common cache-unfriendly patterns

c
// BAD: random access (linked list traversal)Node *node = head;while (node) {    process(node->data);    node = node->next;  // pointer chasing = cache miss per node}
// BETTER: pool allocate nodes contiguously// Or: rewrite as contiguous array with indices
// BAD: stride > cache line in matrix traversalfor (int i = 0; i < N; i++)    for (int j = 0; j < M; j++)        sum += matrix[j][i];  // column-major access on row-major array
// GOOD: row-major accessfor (int i = 0; i < N; i++)    for (int j = 0; j < M; j++)        sum += matrix[i][j];
// BAD: large struct with hot + cold fieldsstruct Record {    int id;           // hot: accessed every iteration    char name[128];   // cold: accessed rarely    int value;        // hot    char desc[256];   // cold};
// GOOD: separate hot and cold datastruct RecordHot { int id; int value; };struct RecordCold { char name[128]; char desc[256]; };RecordHot hot_data[N];RecordCold cold_data[N];

5. False sharing

False sharing occurs when two threads write to different variables that share a cache line, causing constant cache-line invalidations.

c
// BAD: counters likely on same cache line (8 bytes each, line = 64 bytes)int counter_a;  // thread A's counterint counter_b;  // thread B's counter
// Both on the same cache line → every write invalidates the other thread's cache
// GOOD: pad to separate cache linesstruct alignas(64) PaddedCounter {    int value;    char padding[60];  // Ensure next counter is on different cache line};
PaddedCounter counters[NUM_THREADS];// Thread i: counters[i].value++
// C++ standard approachstruct alignas(std::hardware_destructive_interference_size) PaddedCounter {    int value;};

6. Prefetching

Manual prefetch hints to hide memory latency:

c
#include <immintrin.h>  // or <xmmintrin.h>
// Prefetch for read (locality 0=non-temporal, 3=high temporal)__builtin_prefetch(ptr, 0, 3);  // prefetch for read, high locality__builtin_prefetch(ptr, 1, 3);  // prefetch for write, high locality
// SSE prefetch (x86)_mm_prefetch((char*)ptr, _MM_HINT_T0);   // L1_mm_prefetch((char*)ptr, _MM_HINT_T1);   // L2_mm_prefetch((char*)ptr, _MM_HINT_T2);   // L3_mm_prefetch((char*)ptr, _MM_HINT_NTA);  // non-temporal (streaming)
// Typical pattern: prefetch N iterations ahead#define PREFETCH_DIST 8for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {    if (i + PREFETCH_DIST < N)        __builtin_prefetch(&data[i + PREFETCH_DIST], 0, 3);    process(data[i]);}

Prefetching rules:

  • Prefetch too early = cache evicted before use
  • Prefetch too late = no benefit
  • Prefetch distance = memory latency / time per iteration (typically 8–32 elements)

7. Cache-friendly algorithm design

c
// Loop blocking / tiling for matrix operations// Process cache-fitting blocks instead of full rows/columns#define BLOCK 64  // tuned to L1 cache size
void matrix_mult_blocked(float *C, float *A, float *B, int N) {    for (int i = 0; i < N; i += BLOCK)    for (int k = 0; k < N; k += BLOCK)    for (int j = 0; j < N; j += BLOCK)    // Inner block fits in L1 cache    for (int ii = i; ii < i + BLOCK && ii < N; ii++)    for (int kk = k; kk < k + BLOCK && kk < N; kk++)    for (int jj = j; jj < j + BLOCK && jj < N; jj++)        C[ii*N+jj] += A[ii*N+kk] * B[kk*N+jj];}

For perf cache event reference and false sharing detection patterns, see references/cache-counters.md [blocked].

Related skills

  • Use skills/profilers/linux-perf for perf stat and perf record cache measurements
  • Use skills/profilers/valgrind — cachegrind simulates cache behaviour
  • Use skills/low-level-programming/simd-intrinsics — SoA layout pairs with SIMD vectorization
  • Use skills/low-level-programming/memory-model for false sharing in concurrent contexts

Source and attribution

Source:mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skillsinskills/low-level-programming/cpu-cache-optat commitbdc5847

License: No license

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