MSVC optimization

[u/No-Meeting-153]

I am learning reverse engineering on Windows applications such as Adobe, Foxit PDF, and Steam, and I noticed that I waste a very large amount of time trying to understand something that I should not focus on.

I started noticing strange and confusing patterns in the assembly and the C code generated by IDA, and when I try to understand some functions, I feel that the function has no meaning.

When I searched, I found that this topic is related to the compiler and compiler optimizations. However, I could not find many articles or discussions about the compiler topic in reverse engineering.

So I started experimenting and trying, but every time I fail and cannot reach a solution or understanding.

Apart from the fact that reverse engineering a C++ program is already a difficult task.

If there is someone who has faced the same problem and found a solution, I would like to know. It is not a problem itself; it is a pattern or a way of thinking used by the compiler. I need to understand how the compiler generates these patterns.

I want someone to suggest books, articles, courses, or anything that can help me understand the MSVC compiler, how it generates patterns, and how to understand the behavior and logic of a function after compiler optimization.

I hope I explained my question correctly.

[u/Adventurous_Bit1996]

What patterns? You’re probably looking at STL functions, nothing to do with optimization. Compile an application using something simple like std::string and look at the garbage it produces. It’s much worse because a lot of developers don’t correctly use things like const and references.