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 | <div class="doc_title"> | 
 |   Open LLVM Projects | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <ul> | 
 |   <li><a href="#what">What is this?</a></li> | 
 |   <li><a href="#improving">Improving the current system</a> | 
 |   <ol> | 
 |     <li><a href="#code-cleanups">Implementing Code Cleanup bugs</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#glibc">Port glibc to LLVM</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#programs">Compile programs with the LLVM Compiler</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#llvm_ir">Extend the LLVM intermediate representation</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#misc_imp">Miscellaneous Improvements</a></li> | 
 |   </ol></li> | 
 |  | 
 |   <li><a href="#new">Adding new capabilities to LLVM</a> | 
 |   <ol> | 
 |     <li><a href="#newfeaturebugs">Implementing new feature PRs</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#pointeranalysis">Pointer and Alias Analysis</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#profileguided">Profile Guided Optimization</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#xforms">New Transformations and Analyses</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#x86be">X86 Back-end Improvements</a></li> | 
 |     <li><a href="#misc_new">Miscellaneous Additions</a></li> | 
 |   </ol></li> | 
 | </ul> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_author"> | 
 |   <p>Written by the <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/">LLVM Team</a></p> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> | 
 | <div class="doc_section"> | 
 |   <a name="what">What is this?</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>This document is meant to be a sort of "big TODO list" for LLVM.  Each | 
 | project in this document is something that would be useful for LLVM to have, and | 
 | would also be a great way to get familiar with the system.  Some of these | 
 | projects are small and self-contained, which may be implemented in a couple of | 
 | days, others are larger.  Several of these projects may lead to interesting | 
 | research projects in their own right.  In any case, we welcome all | 
 | contributions.</p> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>If you are thinking about tackling one of these projects, please send a mail | 
 | to the <a href="http://mail.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev">LLVM | 
 | Developer's</a> mailing list, so that we know the project is being worked on. | 
 | Additionally this is a good way to get more information about a specific project | 
 | or to suggest other projects to add to this page. | 
 | </p> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>The projects in this page are open-ended. More specific projects are | 
 | filed as unassigned enhancements in the <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/bugs/"> | 
 | LLVM bug tracker</a>. See the <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/bugs/buglist.cgi?keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&bug_severity=enhancement&emailassigned_to1=1&emailtype1=substring&email1=unassigned">list of currently outstanding issues</a> if you wish to help improve LLVM.</p> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> | 
 | <div class="doc_section"> | 
 |   <a name="improving">Improving the current system</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>Improvements to the current infrastructure are always very welcome and tend | 
 | to be fairly straight-forward to implement.  Here are some of the key areas that | 
 | can use improvement...</p> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="code-cleanups">Implementing Code Cleanup bugs</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p> | 
 | The <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/bugs/">LLVM bug tracker</a> occasionally | 
 | has <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/bugs/buglist.cgi?short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=code-cleanup&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailassigned_to1=1&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailassigned_to2=1&emailreporter2=1&emailcc2=1&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&changedin=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Bug+Number&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">"code-cleanup" bugs</a> filed in it.  Taking one of these and fixing it is a good | 
 | way to get your feet wet in the LLVM code and discover how some of its components | 
 | work. | 
 | </p> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="glibc">Port glibc to LLVM</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>It would be very useful to <a | 
 | href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Porting.html">port</a> <a | 
 | href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/">glibc</a> to LLVM.  This would allow a | 
 | variety of interprocedural algorithms to be much more effective in the face of | 
 | library calls.  The most important pieces to port are things like the string | 
 | library and the <tt>stdio</tt> related functions... low-level system calls like | 
 | '<tt>read</tt>' should stay unimplemented in LLVM.</p> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="programs">Compile programs with the LLVM Compiler</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>We are always looking for new testcases and benchmarks for use with LLVM.  In | 
 | particular, it is useful to try compiling your favorite C source code with LLVM. | 
 | If it doesn't compile, try to figure out why or report it to the <a | 
 | href="http://mail.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/llvmbugs/">llvm-bugs</a> list.  If you | 
 | get the program to compile, it would be extremely useful to convert the build | 
 | system to be compatible with the LLVM Programs testsuite so that we can check it | 
 | into CVS and the automated tester can use it to track progress of the | 
 | compiler.</p> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>When testing a code, try running it with a variety of optimizations, and with | 
 | all the back-ends: CBE, llc, and lli.</p> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="llvm_ir">Extend the LLVM intermediate representation</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>Add support for platform-independent prefetch support.  The GCC <a | 
 |     href="http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/prefetch.html">prefetch project</a> page | 
 |     has a good survey of the prefetching capabilities of a variety of modern | 
 |     processors.</li> | 
 |  | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="misc_imp">Miscellaneous Improvements</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>Someone needs to look into getting the <tt>ranlib</tt> tool to index LLVM | 
 |     bytecode files, so that linking in .a files is not hideously slow.  They | 
 |     would also then have to implement the reader for this index in | 
 |     <tt>gccld</tt>.</li> | 
 |  | 
 | <li>Rework the PassManager to be more flexible</li> | 
 |  | 
 | <li>Some transformations and analyses only work on reducible flow graphs.  It | 
 | would be nice to have a transformation which could be "required" by these passes | 
 | which makes irreducible graphs reducible.  This can easily be accomplished | 
 | through code duplication.  See <a | 
 | href="http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/janssen97making.html">Making Graphs Reducible | 
 | with Controlled Node Splitting</a> and perhaps <a | 
 | href="http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/262004.262005">Nesting of Reducible and | 
 | Irreducible Loops</a>.</li> | 
 |  | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> | 
 | <div class="doc_section"> | 
 |   <a name="new">Adding new capabilities to LLVM</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>Sometimes creating new things is more fun than improving existing things. | 
 | These projects tend to be more involved and perhaps require more work, but can | 
 | also be very rewarding.</p> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="newfeaturebugs">Implementing new feature PRs</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>Many ideas for feature requests are stored in LLVM bugzilla.  Just <a href="http://llvm.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=new-feature&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailassigned_to1=1&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailassigned_to2=1&emailreporter2=1&emailcc2=1&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&changedin=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&namedcmd=All+PRs&newqueryname=&order=Bug+Number&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">search for bugs with a "new-feature" keyword</a>.</p> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="pointeranalysis">Pointer and Alias Analysis</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>We have a <a href="AliasAnalysis.html">strong base for development</a> of | 
 | both pointer analysis based optimizations as well as pointer analyses | 
 | themselves.  It seems natural to want to take advantage of this...</p> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>Implement a flow-sensitive context-sensitive alias analysis algorithm<br> | 
 |   - Pick one of the somewhat efficient algorithms, but strive for maximum | 
 |     precision</li> | 
 |  | 
 | <li>Implement a flow-sensitive context-insensitive alias analysis algorithm<br> | 
 |   - Just an efficient local algorithm perhaps?</li> | 
 |  | 
 | <li>Implement alias-analysis-based optimizations: | 
 |   <ul> | 
 |   <li>Dead store elimination</li> | 
 |   <li>...</li> | 
 |   </ul></li> | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="profileguided">Profile Guided Optimization</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>We now have a unified infrastructure for writing profile-guided | 
 | transformations, which will work either at offline-compile-time or in the JIT, | 
 | but we don't have many transformations.  We would welcome new profile-guided | 
 | transformations as well as improvements to the current profiling system. | 
 | </p> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>Ideas for profile guided transformations:</p> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>Superblock formation (with many optimizations)</li> | 
 | <li>Loop unrolling/peeling</li> | 
 | <li>Profile directed inlining</li> | 
 | <li>Code layout</li> | 
 | <li>...</li> | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | <p>Improvements to the existing support:</p> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>The current block and edge profiling code that gets inserted is very simple | 
 | and inefficient.  Through the use of control-dependence information, many fewer | 
 | counters could be inserted into the code.  Also, if the execution count of a | 
 | loop is known to be a compile-time or runtime constant, all of the counters in | 
 | the loop could be avoided.</li> | 
 |  | 
 | <li>You could implement one of the "static profiling" algorithms which analyze a | 
 | piece of code an make educated guesses about the relative execution frequencies | 
 | of various parts of the code.</li> | 
 |  | 
 | <li>You could add path profiling support, or adapt the existing LLVM path | 
 | profiling code to work with the generic profiling interfaces.</li> | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_subsection"> | 
 |   <a name="xforms">New Transformations and Analyses</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>Implement a Dependence Analysis Infrastructure<br> | 
 |      - Design some way to represent and query dep analysis</li> | 
 | <li>Implement a strength reduction pass</li> | 
 | <li>Value range propagation pass</li> | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_section"> | 
 |   <a name="x86be">X86 Back-end Improvements</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>Implement a better instruction selector</li> | 
 | <li>Implement support for the "switch" instruction without requiring the  | 
 |     lower-switches pass.</li> | 
 | <li>Implement interprocedural register allocation. The CallGraphSCCPass can be | 
 |     used to implement a bottom-up analysis that will determine the *actual*  | 
 |     registers clobbered by a function. Use the pass to fine tune register usage  | 
 |     in callers based on *actual* registers used by the callee.</li> | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> | 
 | <div class="doc_section"> | 
 |   <a name="misc_new">Miscellaneous Additions</a> | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <div class="doc_text"> | 
 |  | 
 | <ol> | 
 | <li>Port the <A HREF="http://www-sop.inria.fr/mimosa/fp/Bigloo/">Bigloo</A> | 
 | Scheme compiler, from Manuel Serrano at INRIA Sophia-Antipolis, to | 
 | output LLVM bytecode. It seems that it can already output .NET | 
 | bytecode, JVM bytecode, and C, so LLVM would ostensibly be another good | 
 | candidate.</li> | 
 | <li>Write a new frontend for some other language (Java? OCaml? Forth?)</li> | 
 | <li>Write a new backend for a target (IA64? MIPS? MMIX?)</li> | 
 | <li>Write a disassembler for machine code that would use TableGen to output  | 
 | <tt>MachineInstr</tt>s for transformations, optimizations, etc.</li> | 
 | <li>Random test vector generator: Use a C grammar to generate random C code; | 
 | run it through llvm-gcc, then run a random set of passes on it using opt. | 
 | Try to crash opt. When opt crashes, use bugpoint to reduce the test case and | 
 | mail the result to yourself.  Repeat ad infinitum.</li> | 
 | <li>Design a simple, recognizable logo.</li> | 
 | </ol> | 
 |  | 
 | </div> | 
 |  | 
 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> | 
 |  | 
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