Sun Studio 12: C User's Guide

B.2.68.3 The SPARC Default

The default architecture for which the C compiler produces code is now v8plus (UltraSPARC). Support for v7 will be dropped in a future release.

The new default yields higher run-time performance for nearly all machines in current use. However, applications that are intended for deployment on pre-UltraSPARC computers no longer execute by default on those computers. Compile with -xarch=v8 to ensure that the applications execute on those computers.

If you want to deploy on v8 systems, you must specify the option -xarch=v8 explicitly on every compiler command line as well as any link-time commands. The provided system libraries run on v8 architectures.

If you want to deploy on v7 systems, you must specify the option -xarch=v7 explicitly on every compiler command line as well as any link-time commands. The provided system libraries use the v8 instruction set. For this release, the only supported operating system for v7 is the Solaris 8 software. When a v8 instruction is encountered, the Solaris 8 operating system interprets the instruction in software. The program runs, but performance is degraded.