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| <title>LLVM: Frequently Asked Questions</title> |
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| |
| <div class="doc_title"> |
| LLVM: Frequently Asked Questions |
| </div> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="#license">License</a> |
| <ol> |
| <li>Why are the LLVM source code and the front-end distributed under different |
| licenses?</li> |
| <li>Does the University of Illinois Open Source License really qualify as an |
| "open source" license?</li> |
| <li>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute the modified source?</li> |
| <li>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute binaries or other tools |
| based on it, without redistributing the source?</li> |
| </ol></li> |
| |
| <li><a href="#source">Source code</a> |
| <ol> |
| <li>In what language is LLVM written?</li> |
| <li>How portable is the LLVM source code?</li> |
| </ol></li> |
| |
| <li><a href="#build">Build Problems</a> |
| <ol> |
| <li>When I run configure, it finds the wrong C compiler.</li> |
| <li>I compile the code, and I get some error about <tt>/localhome</tt>.</li> |
| <li>The <tt>configure</tt> script finds the right C compiler, but it uses the |
| LLVM linker from a previous build. What do I do?</li> |
| <li>When creating a dynamic library, I get a strange GLIBC error.</li> |
| <li>I've updated my source tree from CVS, and now my build is trying to use a |
| file/directory that doesn't exist.</li> |
| <li>I've modified a Makefile in my source tree, but my build tree keeps using |
| the old version. What do I do?</li> |
| <li>I've upgraded to a new version of LLVM, and I get strange build |
| errors.</li> |
| <li>I've built LLVM and am testing it, but the tests freeze.</li> |
| <li>Why do test results differ when I perform different types of builds?</li> |
| <li>Compiling LLVM with GCC 3.3.2 fails, what should I do?</li> |
| <li>When I use the test suite, all of the C Backend tests fail. What is |
| wrong?</li> |
| </ol></li> |
| |
| <li><a href="#cfe">Using the GCC Front End</a> |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| When I compile software that uses a configure script, the configure script |
| thinks my system has all of the header files and libraries it is testing |
| for. How do I get configure to work correctly? |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| When I compile code using the LLVM GCC front end, it complains that it |
| cannot find libcrtend.a. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li><a href="#cfe_code">Questions about code generated by the GCC front-end</a> |
| <ol> |
| <li>What is this <tt>__main()</tt> call that gets inserted into |
| <tt>main()</tt>?</li> |
| <li>Where did all of my code go??</li> |
| <li>What is this <tt>llvm.global_ctors</tt> and |
| <tt>_GLOBAL__I__tmp_webcompile...</tt> stuff that happens when I |
| #include <iostream>?</li> |
| </ol> |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <div class="doc_author"> |
| <p>Written by <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu">The LLVM Team</a></p> |
| </div> |
| |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <div class="doc_section"> |
| <a name="license">License</a> |
| </div> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>Why are the LLVM source code and the front-end distributed under different |
| licenses?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>The C/C++ front-ends are based on GCC and must be distributed under the GPL. |
| Our aim is to distribute LLVM source code under a <em>much less restrictive</em> |
| license, in particular one that does not compel users who distribute tools based |
| on modifying the source to redistribute the modified source code as well.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>Does the University of Illinois Open Source License really qualify as an |
| "open source" license?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>Yes, the license is <a |
| href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/UoI-NCSA.php">certified</a> by the Open |
| Source Initiative (OSI).</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute the modified source?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>Yes. The modified source distribution must retain the copyright notice and |
| follow the three bulletted conditions listed in the <a |
| href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/releases/1.2/LICENSE.TXT">LLVM license</a>.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute binaries or other tools based |
| on it, without redistributing the source?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>Yes, this is why we distribute LLVM under a less restrictive license than |
| GPL, as explained in the first question above.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <div class="doc_section"> |
| <a name="source">Source Code</a> |
| </div> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>In what language is LLVM written?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>All of the LLVM tools and libraries are written in C++ with extensive use of |
| the STL.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>How portable is the LLVM source code?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>The LLVM source code should be portable to most modern UNIX-like operating |
| systems. Most of the code is written in standard C++ with operating system |
| services abstracted to a support library. The tools required to build and test |
| LLVM have been ported to a plethora of platforms.</p> |
| |
| <p>Some porting problems may exist in the following areas:</p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| |
| <li>The GCC front end code is not as portable as the LLVM suite, so it may not |
| compile as well on unsupported platforms.</li> |
| |
| <li>The Python test classes are more UNIX-centric than they should be, so |
| porting to non-UNIX like platforms (i.e. Windows, MacOS 9) will require some |
| effort.</li> |
| |
| <li>The LLVM build system relies heavily on UNIX shell tools, like the Bourne |
| Shell and sed. Porting to systems without these tools (MacOS 9, Plan 9) will |
| require more effort.</li> |
| |
| </ul> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <div class="doc_section"> |
| <a name="build">Build Problems</a> |
| </div> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>When I run configure, it finds the wrong C compiler.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| |
| <p>The <tt>configure</tt> script attempts to locate first <tt>gcc</tt> and then |
| <tt>cc</tt>, unless it finds compiler paths set in <tt>CC</tt> and <tt>CXX</tt> |
| for the C and C++ compiler, respectively.</p> |
| |
| <p>If <tt>configure</tt> finds the wrong compiler, either adjust your |
| <tt>PATH</tt> environment variable or set <tt>CC</tt> and <tt>CXX</tt> |
| explicitly.</p> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>I compile the code, and I get some error about <tt>/localhome</tt>.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| |
| <p>There are several possible causes for this. The first is that you didn't set |
| a pathname properly when using <tt>configure</tt>, and it defaulted to a |
| pathname that we use on our research machines.</p> |
| |
| <p>Another possibility is that we hardcoded a path in our Makefiles. If you see |
| this, please email the LLVM bug mailing list with the name of the offending |
| Makefile and a description of what is wrong with it.</p> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>The <tt>configure</tt> script finds the right C compiler, but it uses the |
| LLVM linker from a previous build. What do I do?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>The <tt>configure</tt> script uses the <tt>PATH</tt> to find executables, so |
| if it's grabbing the wrong linker/assembler/etc, there are two ways to fix |
| it:</p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| |
| <li><p>Adjust your <tt>PATH</tt> environment variable so that the correct |
| program appears first in the <tt>PATH</tt>. This may work, but may not be |
| convenient when you want them <i>first</i> in your path for other |
| work.</p></li> |
| |
| <li><p>Run <tt>configure</tt> with an alternative <tt>PATH</tt> that is |
| correct. In a Borne compatible shell, the syntax would be:</p> |
| |
| <p><tt>PATH=[the path without the bad program] ./configure ...</tt></p> |
| |
| <p>This is still somewhat inconvenient, but it allows <tt>configure</tt> |
| to do its work without having to adjust your <tt>PATH</tt> |
| permanently.</p></li> |
| |
| </ol> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>When creating a dynamic library, I get a strange GLIBC error.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>Under some operating systems (i.e. Linux), libtool does not work correctly if |
| GCC was compiled with the --disable-shared option. To work around this, install |
| your own version of GCC that has shared libraries enabled by default.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>I've updated my source tree from CVS, and now my build is trying to use a |
| file/directory that doesn't exist.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>You need to re-run configure in your object directory. When new Makefiles |
| are added to the source tree, they have to be copied over to the object tree in |
| order to be used by the build.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>I've modified a Makefile in my source tree, but my build tree keeps using the |
| old version. What do I do?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| |
| <p>If the Makefile already exists in your object tree, you |
| can just run the following command in the top level directory of your object |
| tree:</p> |
| |
| <p><tt>./config.status <relative path to Makefile></tt><p> |
| |
| <p>If the Makefile is new, you will have to modify the configure script to copy |
| it over.</p> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>I've upgraded to a new version of LLVM, and I get strange build errors.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| |
| <p>Sometimes, changes to the LLVM source code alters how the build system works. |
| Changes in libtool, autoconf, or header file dependencies are especially prone |
| to this sort of problem.</p> |
| |
| <p>The best thing to try is to remove the old files and re-build. In most |
| cases, this takes care of the problem. To do this, just type <tt>make |
| clean</tt> and then <tt>make</tt> in the directory that fails to build.</p> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>I've built LLVM and am testing it, but the tests freeze.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| |
| <p>This is most likely occurring because you built a profile or release |
| (optimized) build of LLVM and have not specified the same information on the |
| <tt>gmake</tt> command line.</p> |
| |
| <p>For example, if you built LLVM with the command:</p> |
| |
| <p><tt>gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1</tt> |
| |
| <p>...then you must run the tests with the following commands:</p> |
| |
| <p><tt>cd llvm/test<br>gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1</tt></p> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>Why do test results differ when I perform different types of builds?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| |
| <p>The LLVM test suite is dependent upon several features of the LLVM tools and |
| libraries.</p> |
| |
| <p>First, the debugging assertions in code are not enabled in optimized or |
| profiling builds. Hence, tests that used to fail may pass.</p> |
| |
| <p>Second, some tests may rely upon debugging options or behavior that is only |
| available in the debug build. These tests will fail in an optimized or profile |
| build.</p> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p>Compiling LLVM with GCC 3.3.2 fails, what should I do?</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p>This is <a href="http://gcc.gnu.org/PR?13392">a bug in GCC</a>, and |
| affects projects other than LLVM. Try upgrading or downgrading your GCC.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p> |
| When I use the test suite, all of the C Backend tests fail. What is |
| wrong? |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p> |
| If you build LLVM and the C Backend tests fail in <tt>llvm/test/Programs</tt>, |
| then chances are good that the directory pointed to by the LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH |
| environment variable does not contain the libcrtend.a library. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| To fix it, verify that LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH points to the correct directory |
| and that libcrtend.a is inside. For pre-built LLVM GCC front ends, this |
| should be the absolute path to |
| <tt>cfrontend/<<i>platform</i>>/llvm-gcc/bytecode-libs</tt>. If you've |
| built your own LLVM GCC front end, then ensure that you've built and installed |
| the libraries in <tt>llvm/runtime</tt> and have LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH pointing |
| to the <tt>LLVMGCCDIR/bytecode-libs</tt> subdirectory. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <div class="doc_section"> |
| <a name="cfe">Using the GCC Front End</a> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p> |
| When I compile software that uses a configure script, the configure script |
| thinks my system has all of the header files and libraries it is testing for. |
| How do I get configure to work correctly? |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p> |
| The configure script is getting things wrong because the LLVM linker allows |
| symbols to be undefined at link time (so that they can be resolved during JIT |
| or translation to the C back end). That is why configure thinks your system |
| "has everything." |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| To work around this, perform the following steps: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| Make sure the CC and CXX environment variables contains the full path to the |
| LLVM GCC front end. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| Make sure that the regular C compiler is first in your PATH. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| Add the string "-Wl,-native" to your CFLAGS environment variable. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <p> |
| This will allow the gccld linker to create a native code executable instead of |
| a shell script that runs the JIT. Creating native code requires standard |
| linkage, which in turn will allow the configure script to find out if code is |
| not linking on your system because the feature isn't available on your system. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"> |
| <p> |
| When I compile code using the LLVM GCC front end, it complains that it cannot |
| find libcrtend.a. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p> |
| In order to find libcrtend.a, you must have the directory in which it lives in |
| your LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH environment variable. For the binary distribution of |
| the LLVM GCC front end, this will be the full path of the bytecode-libs |
| directory inside of the LLVM GCC distribution. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <div class="doc_section"> |
| <a name="cfe_code">Questions about code generated by the GCC front-end</a> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="question"><p> |
| What is this <tt>__main()</tt> call that gets inserted into <tt>main()</tt>? |
| </p></div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p> |
| The <tt>__main</tt> call is inserted by the C/C++ compiler in order to guarantee |
| that static constructors and destructors are called when the program starts up |
| and shuts down. In C, you can create static constructors and destructors by |
| using GCC extensions, and in C++ you can do so by creating a global variable |
| whose class has a ctor or dtor. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The actual implementation of <tt>__main</tt> lives in the |
| <tt>llvm/runtime/GCCLibraries/crtend/</tt> directory in the source-base, and is |
| linked in automatically when you link the program. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!--=========================================================================--> |
| |
| <div class="question"><p> |
| Where did all of my code go?? |
| </p></div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p> |
| If you are using the LLVM demo page, you may often wonder what happened to all |
| of the code that you typed in. Remember that the demo script is running the |
| code through the LLVM optimizers, so if your code doesn't actually do anything |
| useful, it might all be deleted. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| To prevent this, make sure that the code is actually needed. For example, if |
| you are computing some expression, return the value from the function instead of |
| leaving it in a local variable. If you really want to constrain the optimizer, |
| you can read from and assign to <tt>volatile</tt> global variables. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!--=========================================================================--> |
| |
| <div class="question"><p> |
| What is this <tt>llvm.global_ctors</tt> and <tt>_GLOBAL__I__tmp_webcompile...</tt> stuff that happens when I #include <iostream>? |
| </p></div> |
| |
| <div class="answer"> |
| <p> |
| If you #include the <iostream> header into a C++ translation unit, the |
| file will probably use the <tt>std::cin</tt>/<tt>std::cout</tt>/... global |
| objects. However, C++ does not guarantee an order of initialization between |
| static objects in different translation units, so if a static ctor/dtor in your |
| .cpp file used <tt>std::cout</tt>, for example, the object would not necessarily |
| be automatically initialized before your use. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| To make <tt>std::cout</tt> and friends work correctly in these scenarios, the |
| STL that we use declares a static object that gets created in every translation |
| unit that includes <iostream>. This object has a static constructor and |
| destructor that initializes and destroys the global iostream objects before they |
| could possibly be used in the file. The code that you see in the .ll file |
| corresponds to the constructor and destructor registration code. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you would like to make it easier to <b>understand</b> the LLVM code generated |
| by the compiler in the demo page, consider using printf instead of iostreams to |
| print values. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
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