How to check if compiled code uses SSE and AVX instructions?
There is no need to check the assembly. Most compilers provide optimisation reports that exactly tell you whether or not your loops were vectorised using SIMD instructions.
If you compile using GCC, set -O3 -march=native to make sure vectorisation is performed using whichever SIMD instruction set (SSE, AVX, ...) the CPU you are compiling on supports, and add -fopt-info to make the compiler verbose about optimisations:
g++ -O3 -march=native -fopt-info -o main.o main.cpp
This will give you output like:
main.cpp:12:20: note: loop vectorized
main.cpp:12:20: note: loop peeled for vectorization to enhance alignment
Hope that helps.
Under Linux, you could also decompile your binary:
objdump -d YOURFILE > YOURFILE.asm
Then find all SSE instructions:
awk '/[ \t](addps|addss|andnps|andps|cmpps|cmpss|comiss|cvtpi2ps|cvtps2pi|cvtsi2ss|cvtss2s|cvttps2pi|cvttss2si|divps|divss|ldmxcsr|maxps|maxss|minps|minss|movaps|movhlps|movhps|movlhps|movlps|movmskps|movntps|movss|movups|mulps|mulss|orps|rcpps|rcpss|rsqrtps|rsqrtss|shufps|sqrtps|sqrtss|stmxcsr|subps|subss|ucomiss|unpckhps|unpcklps|xorps|pavgb|pavgw|pextrw|pinsrw|pmaxsw|pmaxub|pminsw|pminub|pmovmskb|psadbw|pshufw)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
Find only packed SSE instructions (suggested by @Peter Cordes in comments):
awk '/[ \t](addps|andnps|andps|cmpps|cvtpi2ps|cvtps2pi|cvttps2pi|divps|maxps|minps|movaps|movhlps|movhps|movlhps|movlps|movmskps|movntps|movntq|movups|mulps|orps|pavgb|pavgw|pextrw|pinsrw|pmaxsw|pmaxub|pminsw|pminub|pmovmskb|pmulhuw|psadbw|pshufw|rcpps|rsqrtps|shufps|sqrtps|subps|unpckhps|unpcklps|xorps)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
Find all SSE2 instructions (except MOVSD and CMPSD, which were first introduced in 80386):
awk '/[ \t](addpd|addsd|andnpd|andpd|cmppd|comisd|cvtdq2pd|cvtdq2ps|cvtpd2dq|cvtpd2pi|cvtpd2ps|cvtpi2pd|cvtps2dq|cvtps2pd|cvtsd2si|cvtsd2ss|cvtsi2sd|cvtss2sd|cvttpd2dq|cvttpd2pi|cvtps2dq|cvttsd2si|divpd|divsd|maxpd|maxsd|minpd|minsd|movapd|movhpd|movlpd|movmskpd|movupd|mulpd|mulsd|orpd|shufpd|sqrtpd|sqrtsd|subpd|subsd|ucomisd|unpckhpd|unpcklpd|xorpd|movdq2q|movdqa|movdqu|movq2dq|paddq|pmuludq|pshufhw|pshuflw|pshufd|pslldq|psrldq|punpckhqdq|punpcklqdq)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
Find only packed SSE2 instructions:
awk '/[ \t](addpd|andnpd|andpd|cmppd|cvtdq2pd|cvtdq2ps|cvtpd2dq|cvtpd2pi|cvtpd2ps|cvtpi2pd|cvtps2dq|cvtps2pd|cvttpd2dq|cvttpd2pi|cvttps2dq|divpd|maxpd|minpd|movapd|movapd|movhpd|movhpd|movlpd|movlpd|movmskpd|movntdq|movntpd|movupd|movupd|mulpd|orpd|pshufd|pshufhw|pshuflw|pslldq|psrldq|punpckhqdq|shufpd|sqrtpd|subpd|unpckhpd|unpcklpd|xorpd)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
Find all SSE3 instructions:
awk '/[ \t](addsubpd|addsubps|haddpd|haddps|hsubpd|hsubps|movddup|movshdup|movsldup|lddqu|fisttp)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
Find all SSSE3 instructions:
awk '/[ \t](psignw|psignd|psignb|pshufb|pmulhrsw|pmaddubsw|phsubw|phsubsw|phsubd|phaddw|phaddsw|phaddd|palignr|pabsw|pabsd|pabsb)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
Find all SSE4 instructions:
awk '/[ \t](mpsadbw|phminposuw|pmulld|pmuldq|dpps|dppd|blendps|blendpd|blendvps|blendvpd|pblendvb|pblenddw|pminsb|pmaxsb|pminuw|pmaxuw|pminud|pmaxud|pminsd|pmaxsd|roundps|roundss|roundpd|roundsd|insertps|pinsrb|pinsrd|pinsrq|extractps|pextrb|pextrd|pextrw|pextrq|pmovsxbw|pmovzxbw|pmovsxbd|pmovzxbd|pmovsxbq|pmovzxbq|pmovsxwd|pmovzxwd|pmovsxwq|pmovzxwq|pmovsxdq|pmovzxdq|ptest|pcmpeqq|pcmpgtq|packusdw|pcmpestri|pcmpestrm|pcmpistri|pcmpistrm|crc32|popcnt|movntdqa|extrq|insertq|movntsd|movntss|lzcnt)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
Find most common AVX instructions (including scalar, including AVX2, AVX-512 family and some FMA like vfmadd132pd):
awk '/[ \t](vmovapd|vmulpd|vaddpd|vsubpd|vfmadd213pd|vfmadd231pd|vfmadd132pd|vmulsd|vaddsd|vmosd|vsubsd|vbroadcastss|vbroadcastsd|vblendpd|vshufpd|vroundpd|vroundsd|vxorpd|vfnmadd231pd|vfnmadd213pd|vfnmadd132pd|vandpd|vmaxpd|vmovmskpd|vcmppd|vpaddd|vbroadcastf128|vinsertf128|vextractf128|vfmsub231pd|vfmsub132pd|vfmsub213pd|vmaskmovps|vmaskmovpd|vpermilps|vpermilpd|vperm2f128|vzeroall|vzeroupper|vpbroadcastb|vpbroadcastw|vpbroadcastd|vpbroadcastq|vbroadcasti128|vinserti128|vextracti128|vpminud|vpmuludq|vgatherdpd|vgatherqpd|vgatherdps|vgatherqps|vpgatherdd|vpgatherdq|vpgatherqd|vpgatherqq|vpmaskmovd|vpmaskmovq|vpermps|vpermd|vpermpd|vpermq|vperm2i128|vpblendd|vpsllvd|vpsllvq|vpsrlvd|vpsrlvq|vpsravd|vblendmpd|vblendmps|vpblendmd|vpblendmq|vpblendmb|vpblendmw|vpcmpd|vpcmpud|vpcmpq|vpcmpuq|vpcmpb|vpcmpub|vpcmpw|vpcmpuw|vptestmd|vptestmq|vptestnmd|vptestnmq|vptestmb|vptestmw|vptestnmb|vptestnmw|vcompresspd|vcompressps|vpcompressd|vpcompressq|vexpandpd|vexpandps|vpexpandd|vpexpandq|vpermb|vpermw|vpermt2b|vpermt2w|vpermi2pd|vpermi2ps|vpermi2d|vpermi2q|vpermi2b|vpermi2w|vpermt2ps|vpermt2pd|vpermt2d|vpermt2q|vshuff32x4|vshuff64x2|vshuffi32x4|vshuffi64x2|vpmultishiftqb|vpternlogd|vpternlogq|vpmovqd|vpmovsqd|vpmovusqd|vpmovqw|vpmovsqw|vpmovusqw|vpmovqb|vpmovsqb|vpmovusqb|vpmovdw|vpmovsdw|vpmovusdw|vpmovdb|vpmovsdb|vpmovusdb|vpmovwb|vpmovswb|vpmovuswb|vcvtps2udq|vcvtpd2udq|vcvttps2udq|vcvttpd2udq|vcvtss2usi|vcvtsd2usi|vcvttss2usi|vcvttsd2usi|vcvtps2qq|vcvtpd2qq|vcvtps2uqq|vcvtpd2uqq|vcvttps2qq|vcvttpd2qq|vcvttps2uqq|vcvttpd2uqq|vcvtudq2ps|vcvtudq2pd|vcvtusi2ps|vcvtusi2pd|vcvtusi2sd|vcvtusi2ss|vcvtuqq2ps|vcvtuqq2pd|vcvtqq2pd|vcvtqq2ps|vgetexppd|vgetexpps|vgetexpsd|vgetexpss|vgetmantpd|vgetmantps|vgetmantsd|vgetmantss|vfixupimmpd|vfixupimmps|vfixupimmsd|vfixupimmss|vrcp14pd|vrcp14ps|vrcp14sd|vrcp14ss|vrndscaleps|vrndscalepd|vrndscaless|vrndscalesd|vrsqrt14pd|vrsqrt14ps|vrsqrt14sd|vrsqrt14ss|vscalefps|vscalefpd|vscalefss|vscalefsd|valignd|valignq|vdbpsadbw|vpabsq|vpmaxsq|vpmaxuq|vpminsq|vpminuq|vprold|vprolvd|vprolq|vprolvq|vprord|vprorvd|vprorq|vprorvq|vpscatterdd|vpscatterdq|vpscatterqd|vpscatterqq|vscatterdps|vscatterdpd|vscatterqps|vscatterqpd|vpconflictd|vpconflictq|vplzcntd|vplzcntq|vpbroadcastmb2q|vpbroadcastmw2d|vexp2pd|vexp2ps|vrcp28pd|vrcp28ps|vrcp28sd|vrcp28ss|vrsqrt28pd|vrsqrt28ps|vrsqrt28sd|vrsqrt28ss|vgatherpf0dps|vgatherpf0qps|vgatherpf0dpd|vgatherpf0qpd|vgatherpf1dps|vgatherpf1qps|vgatherpf1dpd|vgatherpf1qpd|vscatterpf0dps|vscatterpf0qps|vscatterpf0dpd|vscatterpf0qpd|vscatterpf1dps|vscatterpf1qps|vscatterpf1dpd|vscatterpf1qpd|vfpclassps|vfpclasspd|vfpclassss|vfpclasssd|vrangeps|vrangepd|vrangess|vrangesd|vreduceps|vreducepd|vreducess|vreducesd|vpmovm2d|vpmovm2q|vpmovm2b|vpmovm2w|vpmovd2m|vpmovq2m|vpmovb2m|vpmovw2m|vpmullq|vpmadd52luq|vpmadd52huq|v4fmaddps|v4fmaddss|v4fnmaddps|v4fnmaddss|vp4dpwssd|vp4dpwssds|vpdpbusd|vpdpbusds|vpdpwssd|vpdpwssds|vpcompressb|vpcompressw|vpexpandb|vpexpandw|vpshld|vpshldv|vpshrd|vpshrdv|vpopcntd|vpopcntq|vpopcntb|vpopcntw|vpshufbitqmb|gf2p8affineinvqb|gf2p8affineqb|gf2p8mulb|vpclmulqdq|vaesdec|vaesdeclast|vaesenc|vaesenclast)[ \t]/' YOURFILE.asm
NOTE: tested with gawk and nawk.
Notice that most packed SSE instructions end with PS/PD we'll have a simpler way to check for packed SSEx instructions after dumping the binary content to asmfile
grep %xmm asmfile | grep -P '([[:xdigit:]]{2}\s)+\s*[[:alnum:]]+p[sd]\s+'
or the xmm check can be combined into the pattern
grep -P '([[:xdigit:]]{2}\s)+\s*[[:alnum:]]+p[sd]\s+.+xmm' asmfile
This will suffice for programs only use floating-point operations. However for better coverage you also need to check for instructions begin with P so you need to change the regex a bit
grep -P '([[:xdigit:]]{2}\s)+\s*([[:alnum:]]+p[sd]\s+|p[[:alnum:]]+).+%xmm' asmfile
To also include MMX instructions in 32-bit code change the %xmm part at the end to %x?mm
To check for AVX1/2 you just need to find ymm or %ymm usage instead of checking the instruction name, because AVX1/2 instructions only have the vector version
grep ymm asmfile
Similarly AVX-512 can be checked with
grep zmm asmfile