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| <h1>clang: a C language family frontend for LLVM</h1> | |
| <p>The goal of the Clang project is to create a new C, C++, Objective C and | |
| Objective C++ front-end for the <a href="http://www.llvm.org/">LLVM</a> | |
| compiler.</p> | |
| <h2><a name="goals">Features and Goals</a></h2> | |
| <p>Some of the goals for the project include the following:</p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li>Real-world, production quality compiler.</li> | |
| <li>A single unified parser for C, Objective C, C++, and Objective | |
| C++.</li> | |
| <li>Language conformance with these languages and their variants, like | |
| C90, C99, etc.</li> | |
| <li>GCC compatibility: support GCC extensions, but allow them to be | |
| disabled.</li> | |
| <li><a href="features.html#performance">High performance and low memory | |
| use</a>.</li> | |
| <li>Support many clients such as refactoring, static analysis, as well as | |
| code generation.</li> | |
| <li>Build a library-based architecture with finely crafted APIs, allowing | |
| the code to be reused in many ways.</li> | |
| <li>Design for integration with IDEs as well as code generation with the | |
| <a href="http://llvm.org">LLVM Optimizer and Code Generator</a>.</li> | |
| <li><a href="features.html#expressivediags">Expressive diagnostics</a>: | |
| warnings and errors that are actually helpful and make sense.</li> | |
| <li>Use the LLVM <a | |
| href="http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/trunk/LICENSE.TXT">'BSD' | |
| License</a>.</li> | |
| <li>Finally, make the code clean and simple enough to make it understandable | |
| to anyone who knows the languages involved and has a basic idea of | |
| compilers work.</li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p>Of course this is only a rough outline of the goals and features of | |
| Clang. To get a true sense of what it is all about, see the <a | |
| href="features.html">Features</a> section. The Features section breaks | |
| each of these down and explains them in more detail.</p> | |
| <h2>Why?</h2> | |
| <p>The development of a new front-end was started out of a need -- a need | |
| for a compiler that allows better diagnostics, better integration with | |
| IDEs, a license that is compatible with commercial products, and a | |
| nimble compiler that is easy to develop and maintain. All of these were | |
| motivations for starting work on a new front-end that could | |
| meet these needs.</p> | |
| <p>A good (but quite dated) introduction to Clang can be found in the | |
| following video lectures:</p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li><a href="clang_video-05-25-2007.html">Clang Introduction</a> | |
| (May 2007)</li> | |
| <li><a href="clang_video-07-25-2007.html">Features and Performance of | |
| Clang</a> (July 2007)</li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p>For a more detailed comparison between Clang and other compilers, please | |
| see the <a href="comparison.html">clang comparison page</a>.</p> | |
| <h2>Current Status</h2> | |
| <p>Clang is still in early development stages. If you are looking for | |
| source analysis or source-to-source transformation tools, clang is probably | |
| a great solution for you. If you want to use it as a drop in C compiler, it | |
| is not yet ready.</p> | |
| <p>Clang currently has pretty good parsing and semantic analysis support for | |
| C and Objective-C right now, and bugs are usually quickly fixed once | |
| reported. C++ support is still very early, and we don't expect to have | |
| respectable C++ support for another 2 years or so.</p> | |
| <h2>Get Involved</h2> | |
| <p>The developers of Clang include contributers from Apple and numerous | |
| other volunteers. If you are interested in joining the community or | |
| learning more, please consider joining the <a | |
| href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/cfe-dev">cfe-dev</a> | |
| mailing list, or start by browsing its archives.</p> | |
| <p>If you are interested in trying out Clang, please see the build | |
| instructions on the <a href="get_involved.html#build">Get Involved</a> | |
| page.</p> | |
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