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7 <title>"clang" C Language Family Frontend for LLVM</title>
8 <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="menu.css" />
9 <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="content.css" />
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11<body>
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]12<!--#include virtual="menu.html.incl"-->
13<div id="content">
14 <!--*********************************************************************-->
15 <h1>clang: a C language family frontend for LLVM</h1>
16 <!--*********************************************************************-->
17
18 <p>The goal of the Clang project is to create a new C, C++, Objective C and
19 Objective C++ front-end for the <a href="http://www.llvm.org/">LLVM</a>
Chris Lattner623ec622007-12-13 06:20:15 +0000[diff] [blame]20 compiler. You can <a href="get_started.html">get and build</a> the source
21 today.</p>
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]22
23 <!--=====================================================================-->
Ted Kremenek3644cf92008-06-17 13:47:52 +0000[diff] [blame]24 <h2 id="goals">Features and Goals</h2>
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]25 <!--=====================================================================-->
26
27 <p>Some of the goals for the project include the following:</p>
28
29 <p><b><a href="features.html#enduser">End-User Features</a></b>:</p>
Chris Lattner5ea74932007-12-09 09:05:23 +0000[diff] [blame]30
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]31 <ul>
Chris Lattnerde9a4f52007-12-13 05:42:27 +0000[diff] [blame]32 <li>Fast compiles and low memory use</li>
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]33 <li>Expressive diagnostics</li>
34 <li>GCC compatibility</li>
35 </ul>
Chris Lattner5ea74932007-12-09 09:05:23 +0000[diff] [blame]36
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]37 <p><b><a href="features.html#applications">Utility and
38 Applications</a></b>:</p>
39
40 <ul>
Chris Lattnercddb2af2007-12-10 18:56:37 +0000[diff] [blame]41 <li>Modular library based architecture</li>
Chris Lattner623ec622007-12-13 06:20:15 +0000[diff] [blame]42 <li>Support diverse clients (refactoring, static analysis, code generation,
43 etc)</li>
Chris Lattnercddb2af2007-12-10 18:56:37 +0000[diff] [blame]44 <li>Allow tight integration with IDEs</li>
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]45 <li>Use the LLVM 'BSD' License</li>
46 </ul>
47
48 <p><b><a href="features.html#design">Internal Design and
49 Implementation</a></b>:</p>
50
51 <ul>
52 <li>A real-world, production quality compiler</li>
53 <li>A simple and hackable code base</li>
54 <li>A single unified parser for C, Objective C, C++, and Objective C++</li>
55 <li>Conformance with C/C++/ObjC and their variants</li>
56 </ul>
57
58 <p>Of course this is only a rough outline of the goals and features of
59 Clang. To get a true sense of what it is all about, see the <a
60 href="features.html">Features</a> section, which breaks
61 each of these down and explains them in more detail.</p>
62
63
64 <!--=====================================================================-->
65 <h2>Why?</h2>
66 <!--=====================================================================-->
67
68 <p>The development of a new front-end was started out of a need -- a need
69 for a compiler that allows better diagnostics, better integration with
70 IDEs, a license that is compatible with commercial products, and a
71 nimble compiler that is easy to develop and maintain. All of these were
72 motivations for starting work on a new front-end that could
73 meet these needs.</p>
74
75 <p>A good (but quite dated) introduction to Clang can be found in the
76 following video lectures:</p>
77
78 <ul>
79 <li><a href="clang_video-05-25-2007.html">Clang Introduction</a>
80 (May 2007)</li>
81 <li><a href="clang_video-07-25-2007.html">Features and Performance of
82 Clang</a> (July 2007)</li>
83 </ul>
84
85 <p>For a more detailed comparison between Clang and other compilers, please
86 see the <a href="comparison.html">clang comparison page</a>.</p>
87
88 <!--=====================================================================-->
89 <h2>Current Status</h2>
90 <!--=====================================================================-->
91
92 <p>Clang is still in early development stages. If you are looking for
93 source analysis or source-to-source transformation tools, clang is probably
94 a great solution for you. If you want to use it as a drop in C compiler, it
95 is not yet ready.</p>
96
97 <p>Clang currently has pretty good parsing and semantic analysis support for
98 C and Objective-C right now, and bugs are usually quickly fixed once
99 reported. C++ support is still very early, and we don't expect to have
100 respectable C++ support for another 2 years or so.</p>
101
102 <!--=====================================================================-->
Chris Lattner623ec622007-12-13 06:20:15 +0000[diff] [blame]103 <h2>Get it and get involved!</h2>
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]104 <!--=====================================================================-->
105
Ted Kremenekadd62fe2008-05-23 01:40:41 +0000[diff] [blame]106 <p>Start by <a href="get_started.html">getting the code, building it, and
Chris Lattner623ec622007-12-13 06:20:15 +0000[diff] [blame]107 playing with it</a>. This will show you the sorts of things we can do
108 today and will let you have the "clang experience" first hand: hopefully
109 it will "resonate" with you. :)</p>
110
111 <p>Once you've done that, please consider <a href="get_involved.html">getting
112 involved in the clang community</a>. The clang developers include numerous
Gordon Henriksenc62f4892008-01-22 18:46:25 +0000[diff] [blame]113 volunteer contributors with a variety of backgrounds. If you're
Chris Lattner09dec592008-01-22 17:14:30 +0000[diff] [blame]114 interested in
Chris Lattner623ec622007-12-13 06:20:15 +0000[diff] [blame]115 following the development of clang, signing up for a mailing list is a good
116 way to learn about how the project works.</p>
Chris Lattnercf086ea2007-12-10 08:19:29 +0000[diff] [blame]117</div>
Kevin8e8f64e2007-10-06 21:28:47 +0000[diff] [blame]118</body>
Chris Lattner5ea74932007-12-09 09:05:23 +0000[diff] [blame]119</html>