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Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +00007 <title>LLVM 2.5 Release Notes</title>
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9<body>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +000010
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +000011<div class="doc_title">LLVM 2.5 Release Notes</div>
Mikhail Glushenkovea65d7d2008-10-13 02:08:34 +000012
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +000013<ol>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +000014 <li><a href="#intro">Introduction</a></li>
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +000015 <li><a href="#subproj">Sub-project Status Update</a></li>
16 <li><a href="#whatsnew">What's New in LLVM?</a></li>
Chris Lattner4b538b92004-04-30 22:17:12 +000017 <li><a href="GettingStarted.html">Installation Instructions</a></li>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +000018 <li><a href="#portability">Portability and Supported Platforms</a></li>
Dan Gohman44aa9212008-10-14 16:23:02 +000019 <li><a href="#knownproblems">Known Problems</a></li>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +000020 <li><a href="#additionalinfo">Additional Information</a></li>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +000021</ol>
22
Chris Lattner7911ce22004-05-23 21:07:27 +000023<div class="doc_author">
Dan Gohman44aa9212008-10-14 16:23:02 +000024 <p>Written by the <a href="http://llvm.org">LLVM Team</a></p>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +000025</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +000026
27<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +000028<div class="doc_section">
29 <a name="intro">Introduction</a>
30</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +000031<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
32
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +000033<div class="doc_text">
34
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +000035<p>This document contains the release notes for the LLVM Compiler
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +000036Infrastructure, release 2.5. Here we describe the status of LLVM, including
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +000037major improvements from the previous release and significant known problems.
38All LLVM releases may be downloaded from the <a
39href="http://llvm.org/releases/">LLVM releases web site</a>.</p>
Chris Lattner19092612003-10-02 16:38:05 +000040
Chris Lattner7506b1d2004-12-07 08:04:13 +000041<p>For more information about LLVM, including information about the latest
Chris Lattnerc463b272005-10-29 07:07:09 +000042release, please check out the <a href="http://llvm.org/">main LLVM
Chris Lattner47ad72c2003-10-07 21:38:31 +000043web site</a>. If you have questions or comments, the <a
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +000044href="http://mail.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev">LLVM Developer's Mailing
45List</a> is a good place to send them.</p>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +000046
Mikhail Glushenkovea65d7d2008-10-13 02:08:34 +000047<p>Note that if you are reading this file from a Subversion checkout or the
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +000048main LLVM web page, this document applies to the <i>next</i> release, not the
Gabor Greiffa933f82008-10-14 11:00:32 +000049current one. To see the release notes for a specific release, please see the
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +000050<a href="http://llvm.org/releases/">releases page</a>.</p>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +000051
52</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +000053
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +000054<!-- Unfinished features in 2.5:
Chris Lattneracce85d2008-02-10 07:46:44 +000055 Machine LICM
56 Machine Sinking
57 LegalizeDAGTypes
Chris Lattner547a3912008-10-12 19:47:48 +000058 llc -enable-value-prop, propagation of value info (sign/zero ext info) from
59 one MBB to another
Chris Lattneracce85d2008-02-10 07:46:44 +000060 -->
Mikhail Glushenkovea65d7d2008-10-13 02:08:34 +000061
Chris Lattner547a3912008-10-12 19:47:48 +000062 <!-- for announcement email:
63 mention dev mtg
Chris Lattnercdb0e4c2008-10-12 22:57:58 +000064 Xcode 3.1 and 3.1.1.
Chris Lattner547a3912008-10-12 19:47:48 +000065 -->
Chris Lattneracce85d2008-02-10 07:46:44 +000066
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +000067<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
68<div class="doc_section">
69 <a name="subproj">Sub-project Status Update</a>
Chris Lattnerea34f642008-06-08 21:34:41 +000070</div>
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +000071<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Chris Lattnerea34f642008-06-08 21:34:41 +000072
73<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +000074<p>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +000075The LLVM 2.5 distribution currently consists of code from the core LLVM
Chris Lattnerfb97b2d2008-10-13 18:11:54 +000076repository (which roughly includes the LLVM optimizers, code generators and
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +000077supporting tools) and the llvm-gcc repository. In addition to this code, the
78LLVM Project includes other sub-projects that are in development. The two which
Chris Lattner857fb132008-10-11 18:18:28 +000079are the most actively developed are the <a href="#clang">Clang Project</a> and
Nicolas Geoffray99a4d302008-10-14 19:23:04 +000080the <a href="#vmkit">VMKit Project</a>.
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +000081</p>
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +000082
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +000083</div>
84
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +000085
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +000086<!--=========================================================================-->
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +000087<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerfb97b2d2008-10-13 18:11:54 +000088<a name="clang">Clang: C/C++/Objective-C Frontend Toolkit</a>
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +000089</div>
90
91<div class="doc_text">
92
93<p>The <a href="http://clang.llvm.org/">Clang project</a> is an effort to build
94a set of new 'LLVM native' front-end technologies for the LLVM optimizer
95and code generator. Clang is continuing to make major strides forward in all
96areas. Its C and Objective-C parsing support is very solid, and the code
97generation support is far enough along to build many C applications. While not
98yet production quality, it is progressing very nicely. In addition, C++
99front-end work has started to make significant progress.</p>
100
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000101<p>Clang, in conjunction with the <tt>ccc</tt> driver, is now usable as a
102replacement for gcc for building some small- to medium-sized C applications.
Daniel Dunbar13739432008-10-14 23:25:09 +0000103Additionally, Clang now has code generation support for Objective-C on Mac OS X
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000104platform. Major highlights include:</p>
105
Daniel Dunbar13739432008-10-14 23:25:09 +0000106<ul>
107 <li> Clang/ccc pass almost all of the LLVM test suite on Mac OS X and Linux
108on the 32-bit x86 architecture. This includes significant C
109applications such as <a href="http://www.sqlite.org">sqlite3</a>,
110<a href="http://www.lua.org">lua</a>, and
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000111<a href="http://www.clamav.net">Clam AntiVirus</a>. </li>
Daniel Dunbar13739432008-10-14 23:25:09 +0000112
113 <li> Clang can build the majority of Objective-C examples shipped with the
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000114Mac OS X Developer Tools. </li>
Daniel Dunbar13739432008-10-14 23:25:09 +0000115</ul>
116
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000117<p>Clang code generation still needs considerable testing and development,
118however. Some areas under active development include:</p>
119
Daniel Dunbar13739432008-10-14 23:25:09 +0000120<ul>
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000121 <li> Improved support for C and Objective-C features, for example
122 variable-length arrays, va_arg, exception handling (Obj-C), and garbage
123 collection (Obj-C). </li>
124 <li> ABI compatibility, especially for platforms other than 32-bit
125 x86. </li>
Daniel Dunbar13739432008-10-14 23:25:09 +0000126</ul>
Chris Lattner857fb132008-10-11 18:18:28 +0000127
Chris Lattnerfb97b2d2008-10-13 18:11:54 +0000128</div>
129
130<!--=========================================================================-->
131<div class="doc_subsection">
132<a name="clangsa">Clang Static Analyzer</a>
133</div>
134
135<div class="doc_text">
136
Ted Kremenek3c3ec0c2008-10-14 05:14:21 +0000137<p>The Clang project also includes an early stage static source code analysis
138tool for <a href="http://clang.llvm.org/StaticAnalysis.html">automatically
139finding bugs</a> in C and Objective-C programs. The tool performs a growing set
Chris Lattnerc702d162008-10-14 06:02:29 +0000140of checks to find bugs that occur on a specific path within a program. Examples
Ted Kremenek3c3ec0c2008-10-14 05:14:21 +0000141of bugs the tool finds include logic errors such as null dereferences,
142violations of various API rules, dead code, and potential memory leaks in
Chris Lattnerc702d162008-10-14 06:02:29 +0000143Objective-C programs. Since its inception, public feedback on the tool has been
144extremely positive, and conservative estimates put the number of real bugs it
145has found in industrial-quality software on the order of thousands.</p>
Chris Lattnercc042612008-10-14 00:52:49 +0000146
Ted Kremenek3c3ec0c2008-10-14 05:14:21 +0000147<p>The tool also provides a simple web GUI to inspect potential bugs found by
Chris Lattnerc702d162008-10-14 06:02:29 +0000148the tool. While still early in development, the GUI illustrates some of the key
Ted Kremenek3c3ec0c2008-10-14 05:14:21 +0000149features of Clang: accurate source location information, which is used by the
150GUI to highlight specific code expressions that relate to a bug (including those
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000151that span multiple lines); and built-in knowledge of macros, which is used to
Ted Kremenek3c3ec0c2008-10-14 05:14:21 +0000152perform inline expansion of macros within the GUI itself.</p>
153
Chris Lattnerc702d162008-10-14 06:02:29 +0000154<p>The set of checks performed by the static analyzer is gradually expanding,
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000155and future plans for the tool include full source-level inter-procedural
156analysis and deeper checks such as buffer overrun detection. There are many
157opportunities to extend and enhance the static analyzer, and anyone interested
158in working on this project is encouraged to get involved!</p>
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000159
160</div>
161
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +0000162<!--=========================================================================-->
163<div class="doc_subsection">
Nicolas Geoffray99a4d302008-10-14 19:23:04 +0000164<a name="vmkit">VMKit: JVM/CLI Virtual Machine Implementation</a>
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +0000165</div>
166
167<div class="doc_text">
168<p>
Nicolas Geoffray99a4d302008-10-14 19:23:04 +0000169The <a href="http://vmkit.llvm.org/">VMKit project</a> is an implementation of
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +0000170a JVM and a CLI Virtual Machines (Microsoft .NET is an
171implementation of the CLI) using the Just-In-Time compiler of LLVM.</p>
172
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000173<p>Following LLVM 2.5, VMKit has its first release 0.24 that you can find on its
Nicolas Geoffray56d313d2008-10-15 20:25:04 +0000174<a href="http://vmkit.llvm.org/releases/">webpage</a>. The release includes
175bug fixes, cleanup and new features. The major changes are:</p>
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +0000176
Nicolas Geoffray99a4d302008-10-14 19:23:04 +0000177<ul>
178
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000179<li>?</li>
Nicolas Geoffray99a4d302008-10-14 19:23:04 +0000180
181</ul>
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +0000182</div>
183
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000184
185<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
186<div class="doc_section">
Chris Lattner96a445e2008-10-13 18:01:01 +0000187 <a name="whatsnew">What's New in LLVM?</a>
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000188</div>
189<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
190
Chris Lattnerf8e0b4e2008-06-08 22:59:35 +0000191<div class="doc_text">
192
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000193<p>This release includes a huge number of bug fixes, performance tweaks, and
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000194minor improvements. Some of the major improvements and new features are listed
195in this section.
Chris Lattnerf8e0b4e2008-06-08 22:59:35 +0000196</p>
197</div>
198
Chris Lattner8348b472008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000199<!--=========================================================================-->
Chris Lattnerea34f642008-06-08 21:34:41 +0000200<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner252b83d2008-02-06 18:00:06 +0000201<a name="majorfeatures">Major New Features</a>
202</div>
203
204<div class="doc_text">
205
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000206<p>LLVM 2.5 includes several major new capabilities:</p>
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000207
208<ul>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000209<li><p>?</p></li>
Chris Lattnerbc5786b2008-06-05 06:57:39 +0000210
Chris Lattner8170c102008-02-10 08:18:42 +0000211</ul>
212
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000213</div>
214
Chris Lattner791f77b2008-06-05 06:25:56 +0000215
216<!--=========================================================================-->
217<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerea34f642008-06-08 21:34:41 +0000218<a name="llvm-gcc">llvm-gcc 4.2 Improvements</a>
Chris Lattner791f77b2008-06-05 06:25:56 +0000219</div>
220
221<div class="doc_text">
222
Chris Lattnerb82eb062008-10-13 20:47:20 +0000223<p>LLVM fully supports the llvm-gcc 4.2 front-end, which marries the GCC
224front-ends and driver with the LLVM optimizer and code generator. It currently
225includes support for the C, C++, Objective-C, Ada, and Fortran front-ends.</p>
Chris Lattner791f77b2008-06-05 06:25:56 +0000226
Chris Lattnerf8e0b4e2008-06-08 22:59:35 +0000227<ul>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000228<li>?</li>
Gabor Greifa3bd11d2008-06-09 06:06:18 +0000229</ul>
Chris Lattner791f77b2008-06-05 06:25:56 +0000230
Chris Lattner791f77b2008-06-05 06:25:56 +0000231</div>
232
233
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000234<!--=========================================================================-->
235<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerf304ffc2008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000236<a name="coreimprovements">LLVM Core Improvements</a>
237</div>
238
239<div class="doc_text">
Bill Wendling741748a2008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000240<p>New features include:</p>
Chris Lattnerf304ffc2008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000241
Chris Lattner791f77b2008-06-05 06:25:56 +0000242<ul>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000243<li>?</li>
Chris Lattner7752d1a2008-10-13 20:59:32 +0000244
Chris Lattnerf304ffc2008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000245</ul>
Mikhail Glushenkovea65d7d2008-10-13 02:08:34 +0000246
Chris Lattnerf304ffc2008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000247</div>
248
249<!--=========================================================================-->
250<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattneracce85d2008-02-10 07:46:44 +0000251<a name="optimizer">Optimizer Improvements</a>
252</div>
253
254<div class="doc_text">
255
Chris Lattnerf3013872008-10-13 21:50:36 +0000256<p>In addition to a huge array of bug fixes and minor performance tweaks, this
257release includes a few major enhancements and additions to the optimizers:</p>
Chris Lattneracce85d2008-02-10 07:46:44 +0000258
259<ul>
260
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000261<li>?</li>
Chris Lattnerf3013872008-10-13 21:50:36 +0000262
Chris Lattner0b832202008-06-08 02:45:07 +0000263</ul>
264
265</div>
266
267<!--=========================================================================-->
268<div class="doc_subsection">
269<a name="codegen">Code Generator Improvements</a>
270</div>
271
272<div class="doc_text">
273
Gabor Greifa8b84902008-10-14 11:31:14 +0000274<p>We have put a significant amount of work into the code generator infrastructure,
Chris Lattner0b832202008-06-08 02:45:07 +0000275which allows us to implement more aggressive algorithms and make it run
276faster:</p>
277
278<ul>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000279<li>?</li>
Chris Lattner0b832202008-06-08 02:45:07 +0000280
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000281</ul>
282
283</div>
284
285
286<!--=========================================================================-->
287<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnereeb4da02008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000288<a name="targetspecific">Target Specific Improvements</a>
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000289</div>
Chris Lattner60893e52007-05-18 06:33:02 +0000290
Chris Lattner738bd302006-04-18 06:32:08 +0000291<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattnerf304ffc2008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000292<p>New target-specific features include:
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000293</p>
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000294
295<ul>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000296<li>?</li>
Chris Lattner77d29b12008-06-05 08:02:49 +0000297</ul>
Chris Lattner77d29b12008-06-05 08:02:49 +0000298
Mikhail Glushenkovea65d7d2008-10-13 02:08:34 +0000299</div>
Chris Lattner77d29b12008-06-05 08:02:49 +0000300
301
302<!--=========================================================================-->
303<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000304<a name="otherimprovements">Other Improvements</a>
305</div>
306
307<div class="doc_text">
308<p>New features include:
309</p>
310
311<ul>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000312<li>?</li>
Tanya Lattnera7ec7062008-11-04 18:40:27 +0000313
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000314</ul>
Mikhail Glushenkovea65d7d2008-10-13 02:08:34 +0000315
Chris Lattner84977642007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000316</div>
Chris Lattnerc5d658a2006-03-03 00:34:26 +0000317
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000318<!--=========================================================================-->
319<div class="doc_subsection">
320<a name="changes">Major Changes and Removed Features</a>
321</div>
322
323<div class="doc_text">
324
Chris Lattnereeb4da02008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000325<p>If you're already an LLVM user or developer with out-of-tree changes based
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000326on LLVM 2.4, this section lists some "gotchas" that you may run into upgrading
Chris Lattnereeb4da02008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000327from the previous release.</p>
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000328
329<ul>
330
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000331<li>?</li>
Chris Lattnereeb4da02008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000332</ul>
333
334
335<p>In addition, many APIs have changed in this release. Some of the major LLVM
336API changes are:</p>
337
338<ul>
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000339<li>?</li>
Devang Patelb34dd132008-10-14 20:03:43 +0000340</ul>
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000341
Chris Lattner38ab04c2009-02-25 04:41:31 +0000342<li>?</li>
Chris Lattnerf6662f92008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000343</ul>
344
345</div>
346
347
348
Chris Lattner19092612003-10-02 16:38:05 +0000349<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000350<div class="doc_section">
351 <a name="portability">Portability and Supported Platforms</a>
352</div>
Chris Lattner19092612003-10-02 16:38:05 +0000353<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
354
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000355<div class="doc_text">
356
John Criswell0b5b5e92004-12-08 20:35:47 +0000357<p>LLVM is known to work on the following platforms:</p>
Chris Lattner4654bdb2004-06-01 18:22:41 +0000358
359<ul>
Chris Lattnere18b32e2008-11-10 05:40:34 +0000360<li>Intel and AMD machines (IA32, X86-64, AMD64, EMT-64) running Red Hat
361Linux, Fedora Core and FreeBSD (and probably other unix-like systems).</li>
362<li>PowerPC and X86-based Mac OS X systems, running 10.3 and above in 32-bit
363and 64-bit modes.</li>
Chris Lattner252b83d2008-02-06 18:00:06 +0000364<li>Intel and AMD machines running on Win32 using MinGW libraries (native).</li>
Chris Lattner57a460e2007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000365<li>Intel and AMD machines running on Win32 with the Cygwin libraries (limited
366 support is available for native builds with Visual C++).</li>
Gabor Greif96a89c72008-06-05 18:39:01 +0000367<li>Sun UltraSPARC workstations running Solaris 10.</li>
John Criswell9321fa82005-05-13 20:28:15 +0000368<li>Alpha-based machines running Debian GNU/Linux.</li>
Gabor Greif96a89c72008-06-05 18:39:01 +0000369<li>Itanium-based (IA64) machines running Linux and HP-UX.</li>
Chris Lattner4654bdb2004-06-01 18:22:41 +0000370</ul>
371
Chris Lattnerbc5786b2008-06-05 06:57:39 +0000372<p>The core LLVM infrastructure uses GNU autoconf to adapt itself
Brian Gaekeb0fd7612004-05-09 05:28:35 +0000373to the machine and operating system on which it is built. However, minor
374porting may be required to get LLVM to work on new platforms. We welcome your
375portability patches and reports of successful builds or error messages.</p>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000376
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000377</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000378
379<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000380<div class="doc_section">
381 <a name="knownproblems">Known Problems</a>
382</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000383<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
384
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000385<div class="doc_text">
386
Chris Lattnere18b32e2008-11-10 05:40:34 +0000387<p>This section contains significant known problems with the LLVM system,
388listed by component. If you run into a problem, please check the <a
Chris Lattnerc463b272005-10-29 07:07:09 +0000389href="http://llvm.org/bugs/">LLVM bug database</a> and submit a bug if
Chris Lattner5eccca42003-12-12 21:22:16 +0000390there isn't already one.</p>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000391
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000392</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000393
Chris Lattnerf5ee1702004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000394<!-- ======================================================================= -->
395<div class="doc_subsection">
396 <a name="experimental">Experimental features included with this release</a>
397</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000398
Chris Lattnerf5ee1702004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000399<div class="doc_text">
400
Misha Brukman6df9e2c2004-05-12 21:46:05 +0000401<p>The following components of this LLVM release are either untested, known to
402be broken or unreliable, or are in early development. These components should
403not be relied on, and bugs should not be filed against them, but they may be
404useful to some people. In particular, if you would like to work on one of these
Chris Lattner2b659ef2008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000405components, please contact us on the <a
406href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev">LLVMdev list</a>.</p>
Chris Lattnerf5ee1702004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000407
408<ul>
Gabor Greifa8b84902008-10-14 11:31:14 +0000409<li>The MSIL, IA64, Alpha, SPU, MIPS, and PIC16 backends are experimental.</li>
Duncan Sands27aff872008-06-08 20:18:35 +0000410<li>The llc "<tt>-filetype=asm</tt>" (the default) is the only supported
Chris Lattner000c73b2008-02-06 06:30:34 +0000411 value for this option.</li>
Chris Lattnerf5ee1702004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000412</ul>
413
414</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000415
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000416<!-- ======================================================================= -->
417<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000418 <a name="x86-be">Known problems with the X86 back-end</a>
John Criswellc0c186d2005-11-08 21:11:33 +0000419</div>
420
421<div class="doc_text">
422
423<ul>
Anton Korobeynikova6094be2008-06-08 10:24:13 +0000424 <li>The X86 backend does not yet support
425 all <a href="http://llvm.org/PR879">inline assembly that uses the X86
426 floating point stack</a>. It supports the 'f' and 't' constraints, but not
427 'u'.</li>
Chris Lattnere6e1b352008-06-08 21:19:07 +0000428 <li>The X86 backend generates inefficient floating point code when configured
429 to generate code for systems that don't have SSE2.</li>
Duncan Sands47eff2b2008-06-08 19:38:43 +0000430 <li>Win64 code generation wasn't widely tested. Everything should work, but we
Anton Korobeynikova6094be2008-06-08 10:24:13 +0000431 expect small issues to happen. Also, llvm-gcc cannot build mingw64 runtime
432 currently due
433 to <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2255">several</a>
Chris Lattner04af7cb2008-06-08 23:12:47 +0000434 <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2257">bugs</a> due to lack of support for the
435 'u' inline assembly constraint and X87 floating point inline assembly.</li>
Dan Gohman8207ba92008-06-08 23:05:11 +0000436 <li>The X86-64 backend does not yet support the LLVM IR instruction
437 <tt>va_arg</tt>. Currently, the llvm-gcc front-end supports variadic
438 argument constructs on X86-64 by lowering them manually.</li>
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000439</ul>
440
441</div>
442
443<!-- ======================================================================= -->
444<div class="doc_subsection">
445 <a name="ppc-be">Known problems with the PowerPC back-end</a>
446</div>
447
448<div class="doc_text">
449
450<ul>
Nicolas Geoffraye4285dc2007-05-15 09:21:28 +0000451<li>The Linux PPC32/ABI support needs testing for the interpreter and static
Chris Lattner57a460e2007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000452compilation, and lacks support for debug information.</li>
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000453</ul>
454
455</div>
456
457<!-- ======================================================================= -->
458<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000459 <a name="arm-be">Known problems with the ARM back-end</a>
460</div>
461
462<div class="doc_text">
463
464<ul>
Chris Lattner57a460e2007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000465<li>Thumb mode works only on ARMv6 or higher processors. On sub-ARMv6
Duncan Sandsc90d68b2007-09-26 15:59:54 +0000466processors, thumb programs can crash or produce wrong
Chris Lattner57a460e2007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000467results (<a href="http://llvm.org/PR1388">PR1388</a>).</li>
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000468<li>Compilation for ARM Linux OABI (old ABI) is supported, but not fully tested.
469</li>
Chris Lattnere6e1b352008-06-08 21:19:07 +0000470<li>There is a bug in QEMU-ARM (&lt;= 0.9.0) which causes it to incorrectly
471 execute
Chris Lattner57a460e2007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000472programs compiled with LLVM. Please use more recent versions of QEMU.</li>
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000473</ul>
474
475</div>
476
477<!-- ======================================================================= -->
478<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000479 <a name="sparc-be">Known problems with the SPARC back-end</a>
480</div>
481
482<div class="doc_text">
483
484<ul>
485<li>The SPARC backend only supports the 32-bit SPARC ABI (-m32), it does not
486 support the 64-bit SPARC ABI (-m64).</li>
487</ul>
488
489</div>
490
491<!-- ======================================================================= -->
492<div class="doc_subsection">
Bruno Cardoso Lopesb7e1a4f2008-10-25 14:56:26 +0000493 <a name="mips-be">Known problems with the MIPS back-end</a>
494</div>
495
496<div class="doc_text">
497
498<ul>
499<li>The O32 ABI is not fully supported.</li>
500<li>64-bit MIPS targets are not supported yet.</li>
501</ul>
502
503</div>
504
505<!-- ======================================================================= -->
506<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000507 <a name="alpha-be">Known problems with the Alpha back-end</a>
508</div>
509
510<div class="doc_text">
511
512<ul>
513
514<li>On 21164s, some rare FP arithmetic sequences which may trap do not have the
515appropriate nops inserted to ensure restartability.</li>
516
John Criswellc0c186d2005-11-08 21:11:33 +0000517</ul>
518</div>
519
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000520<!-- ======================================================================= -->
521<div class="doc_subsection">
522 <a name="ia64-be">Known problems with the IA64 back-end</a>
523</div>
524
525<div class="doc_text">
526
527<ul>
Chris Lattner04af7cb2008-06-08 23:12:47 +0000528<li>The Itanium backend is highly experimental, and has a number of known
529 issues. We are looking for a maintainer for the Itanium backend. If you
Gabor Greif3bd3a262008-10-15 10:47:24 +0000530 are interested, please contact the LLVMdev mailing list.</li>
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000531</ul>
532
533</div>
534
535<!-- ======================================================================= -->
536<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000537 <a name="c-be">Known problems with the C back-end</a>
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000538</div>
539
540<div class="doc_text">
541
542<ul>
Chris Lattner5733b272008-06-05 06:35:40 +0000543<li><a href="http://llvm.org/PR802">The C backend has only basic support for
544 inline assembly code</a>.</li>
Chris Lattner725a0d82007-09-26 06:01:35 +0000545<li><a href="http://llvm.org/PR1658">The C backend violates the ABI of common
546 C++ programs</a>, preventing intermixing between C++ compiled by the CBE and
Duncan Sands27aff872008-06-08 20:18:35 +0000547 C++ code compiled with llc or native compilers.</li>
Duncan Sandsf74c0cc2008-02-10 13:40:55 +0000548<li>The C backend does not support all exception handling constructs.</li>
Chris Lattner26299222006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000549</ul>
550
551</div>
John Criswellc0c186d2005-11-08 21:11:33 +0000552
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000553
554<!-- ======================================================================= -->
555<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner5733b272008-06-05 06:35:40 +0000556 <a name="c-fe">Known problems with the llvm-gcc C front-end</a>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000557</div>
Chris Lattner47588f92003-10-02 05:07:23 +0000558
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000559<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattnerc5d658a2006-03-03 00:34:26 +0000560
Chris Lattner252b83d2008-02-06 18:00:06 +0000561<p>llvm-gcc does not currently support <a href="http://llvm.org/PR869">Link-Time
562Optimization</a> on most platforms "out-of-the-box". Please inquire on the
Gabor Greif3bd3a262008-10-15 10:47:24 +0000563LLVMdev mailing list if you are interested.</p>
Chris Lattnerd9ea0172006-08-08 17:27:28 +0000564
Chris Lattner5733b272008-06-05 06:35:40 +0000565<p>The only major language feature of GCC not supported by llvm-gcc is
566 the <tt>__builtin_apply</tt> family of builtins. However, some extensions
567 are only supported on some targets. For example, trampolines are only
Duncan Sands27aff872008-06-08 20:18:35 +0000568 supported on some targets (these are used when you take the address of a
569 nested function).</p>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000570
Chris Lattner5733b272008-06-05 06:35:40 +0000571<p>If you run into GCC extensions which are not supported, please let us know.
572</p>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000573
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000574</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000575
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000576<!-- ======================================================================= -->
577<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner5733b272008-06-05 06:35:40 +0000578 <a name="c++-fe">Known problems with the llvm-gcc C++ front-end</a>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000579</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000580
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000581<div class="doc_text">
582
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000583<p>The C++ front-end is considered to be fully
Chris Lattner7506b1d2004-12-07 08:04:13 +0000584tested and works for a number of non-trivial programs, including LLVM
Chris Lattnerf3e5bc62007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000585itself, Qt, Mozilla, etc.</p>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000586
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000587<ul>
Anton Korobeynikov0021fc12008-10-11 18:27:16 +0000588<li>Exception handling works well on the X86 and PowerPC targets. Currently
Chris Lattnere18b32e2008-11-10 05:40:34 +0000589 only Linux and Darwin targets are supported (both 32 and 64 bit).</li>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000590</ul>
Chris Lattnerfcc54b32003-10-07 22:14:37 +0000591
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000592</div>
593
Chris Lattner1eb4df62008-10-30 03:58:13 +0000594<!-- ======================================================================= -->
595<div class="doc_subsection">
596 <a name="fortran-fe">Known problems with the llvm-gcc Fortran front-end</a>
597</div>
598
599<div class="doc_text">
Gabor Greifba10fe02008-11-04 21:50:59 +0000600<ul>
Chris Lattner1eb4df62008-10-30 03:58:13 +0000601<li>Fortran support generally works, but there are still several unresolved bugs
602 in Bugzilla. Please see the tools/gfortran component for details.</li>
603
604<li>The Fortran front-end currently does not build on Darwin (without tweaks)
605 due to unresolved dependencies on the C front-end.</li>
Gabor Greifba10fe02008-11-04 21:50:59 +0000606</ul>
Chris Lattner1eb4df62008-10-30 03:58:13 +0000607</div>
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000608
Chris Lattner2b659ef2008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000609<!-- ======================================================================= -->
610<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner5733b272008-06-05 06:35:40 +0000611 <a name="ada-fe">Known problems with the llvm-gcc Ada front-end</a>
Chris Lattner2b659ef2008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000612</div>
613
614<div class="doc_text">
615The llvm-gcc 4.2 Ada compiler works fairly well, however this is not a mature
616technology and problems should be expected.
617<ul>
Duncan Sands27aff872008-06-08 20:18:35 +0000618<li>The Ada front-end currently only builds on X86-32. This is mainly due
Chris Lattner2b659ef2008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000619to lack of trampoline support (pointers to nested functions) on other platforms,
Duncan Sands27aff872008-06-08 20:18:35 +0000620however it <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2006">also fails to build on X86-64</a>
Chris Lattner2b659ef2008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000621which does support trampolines.</li>
622<li>The Ada front-end <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2007">fails to bootstrap</a>.
623Workaround: configure with --disable-bootstrap.</li>
Duncan Sands978bcee2008-10-13 17:27:23 +0000624<li>The c380004, <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2010">c393010</a>
625and <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2421">cxg2021</a> ACATS tests fail
626(c380004 also fails with gcc-4.2 mainline).</li>
627<li>Some gcc specific Ada tests continue to crash the compiler.</li>
Chris Lattner2b659ef2008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000628<li>The -E binder option (exception backtraces)
629<a href="http://llvm.org/PR1982">does not work</a> and will result in programs
630crashing if an exception is raised. Workaround: do not use -E.</li>
631<li>Only discrete types <a href="http://llvm.org/PR1981">are allowed to start
632or finish at a non-byte offset</a> in a record. Workaround: do not pack records
633or use representation clauses that result in a field of a non-discrete type
634starting or finishing in the middle of a byte.</li>
Chris Lattnere6e1b352008-06-08 21:19:07 +0000635<li>The <tt>lli</tt> interpreter <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2009">considers
636'main' as generated by the Ada binder to be invalid</a>.
637Workaround: hand edit the file to use pointers for <tt>argv</tt> and
638<tt>envp</tt> rather than integers.</li>
639<li>The <tt>-fstack-check</tt> option <a href="http://llvm.org/PR2008">is
640ignored</a>.</li>
Chris Lattner2b659ef2008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000641</ul>
642</div>
643
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000644<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000645<div class="doc_section">
646 <a name="additionalinfo">Additional Information</a>
647</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000648<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
649
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000650<div class="doc_text">
651
Chris Lattner416db102005-05-16 17:13:10 +0000652<p>A wide variety of additional information is available on the <a
Chris Lattnerb4b0ce72007-05-18 00:44:29 +0000653href="http://llvm.org">LLVM web page</a>, in particular in the <a
654href="http://llvm.org/docs/">documentation</a> section. The web page also
Reid Spencer669ed452007-07-09 08:04:31 +0000655contains versions of the API documentation which is up-to-date with the
656Subversion version of the source code.
Misha Brukman109d9e82005-03-30 19:14:24 +0000657You can access versions of these documents specific to this release by going
658into the "<tt>llvm/doc/</tt>" directory in the LLVM tree.</p>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000659
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000660<p>If you have any questions or comments about LLVM, please feel free to contact
Chris Lattnerc463b272005-10-29 07:07:09 +0000661us via the <a href="http://llvm.org/docs/#maillist"> mailing
Chris Lattner5eccca42003-12-12 21:22:16 +0000662lists</a>.</p>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000663
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000664</div>
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000665
666<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Chris Lattner79c3fe12003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000667
Misha Brukman500bc302003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000668<hr>
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