__attribute__((const)) vs __attribute__((pure)) in GNU C

Question

What is the difference between __attribute__((const)) and __attribute__((pure)) in GNU C?

__attribute__((const)) int f() {
    /* ... */
    return 4;
}

vs

__attribute__((pure)) int f() {
    /* ... */
    return 4;
}

Answer 1

From the documentation for the ARM compiler (which is based on gcc):

__attribute__((pure)) function attribute
Many functions have no effects except to return a value, and their return value depends only on the parameters and global variables. Functions of this kind can be subject to data flow analysis and might be eliminated.

__attribute__((const)) function attribute
Many functions examine only the arguments passed to them, and have no effects except for the return value. This is a much stricter class than __attribute__((pure)), because a function is not permitted to read global memory. If a function is known to operate only on its arguments then it can be subject to common sub-expression elimination and loop optimizations.

So, TL;DR: __attribute__((const)) is the same as __attribute__((pure)) but without any access to global variables.