SLAU132Y September 2004 – June 2021
You must be extremely careful when using asm (inline assembly) statements in optimized code. The compiler rearranges code segments, uses registers freely, and can completely remove variables or expressions. Although the compiler never optimizes out an asm statement (except when it is unreachable), the surrounding environment where the assembly code is inserted can differ significantly from the original C/C++ source code.
It is usually safe to use asm statements to manipulate hardware controls such as interrupt masks, but asm statements that attempt to interface with the C/C++ environment or access C/C++ variables can have unexpected results. After compilation, check the assembly output to make sure your asm statements are correct and maintain the integrity of the program.