> Do you simply ask the compiler to attempt to apply optimization X   
   > and test for it? Is there any value in exercising the code that   
   > implements X in isolation, given that in general it is usually the   
   > output of some previous transformation that tends to break a later   
   > transformation in non-trivial code?   
      
   a good idea of isolating high-level optimizations in performance tests   
   is employed by NULLSTONE:   
   http://nullstone.com   
      
   they have performance tests for C, Java, C#   
      
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