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John Criswellc310f622003-10-13 16:13:06 +000013
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +000014<div class="doc_title">
15 LLVM: Frequently Asked Questions
16</div>
17
18<ol>
19 <li><a href="#license">License</a>
20 <ol>
21 <li>Why are the LLVM source code and the front-end distributed under different
22 licenses?</li>
23 <li>Does the University of Illinois Open Source License really qualify as an
24 "open source" license?</li>
25 <li>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute the modified source?</li>
26 <li>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute binaries or other tools
27 based on it, without redistributing the source?</li>
28 </ol></li>
29
30 <li><a href="#source">Source code</a>
31 <ol>
32 <li>In what language is LLVM written?</li>
33 <li>How portable is the LLVM source code?</li>
34 </ol></li>
35
36 <li><a href="#build">Build Problems</a>
37 <ol>
38 <li>When I run configure, it finds the wrong C compiler.</li>
39 <li>I compile the code, and I get some error about <tt>/localhome</tt>.</li>
40 <li>The <tt>configure</tt> script finds the right C compiler, but it uses the
41 LLVM linker from a previous build. What do I do?</li>
42 <li>When creating a dynamic library, I get a strange GLIBC error.</li>
43 <li>I've updated my source tree from CVS, and now my build is trying to use a
44 file/directory that doesn't exist.</li>
45 <li>I've modified a Makefile in my source tree, but my build tree keeps using
46 the old version. What do I do?</li>
47 <li>I've upgraded to a new version of LLVM, and I get strange build
48 errors.</li>
49 <li>I've built LLVM and am testing it, but the tests freeze.</li>
50 <li>Why do test results differ when I perform different types of builds?</li>
Chris Lattner306acee2003-12-22 04:06:12 +000051 <li>Compiling LLVM with GCC 3.3.2 fails, what should I do?</li>
John Criswelld1799612004-03-29 20:23:11 +000052 <li>When I use the test suite, all of the C Backend tests fail. What is
53 wrong?</li>
Misha Brukman1739aec2004-09-09 16:36:47 +000054 <li>After CVS update, rebuilding gives the error "No rule to make
55 target".</li>
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +000056 </ol></li>
John Criswell76c1e382003-11-18 16:08:49 +000057
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +000058 <li><a href="#cfe">Using the GCC Front End</a>
John Criswell76c1e382003-11-18 16:08:49 +000059 <ol>
60 <li>
61 When I compile software that uses a configure script, the configure script
62 thinks my system has all of the header files and libraries it is testing
63 for. How do I get configure to work correctly?
64 </li>
65
66 <li>
67 When I compile code using the LLVM GCC front end, it complains that it
Chris Lattner7911ce22004-05-23 21:07:27 +000068 cannot find libcrtend.a.
John Criswell76c1e382003-11-18 16:08:49 +000069 </li>
Tanya Lattner14fc5c12005-04-25 20:36:56 +000070
71 <li>
72 How can I disable all optimizations when compiling code using the LLVM GCC front end?
73 </li>
74
John Criswell76c1e382003-11-18 16:08:49 +000075 </ol>
76 </li>
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +000077
78 <li><a href="#cfe_code">Questions about code generated by the GCC front-end</a>
79 <ol>
Chris Lattner5a53c5d2005-02-25 20:30:21 +000080 <li><a href="#__main">What is this <tt>__main()</tt> call that gets inserted into
81 <tt>main()</tt>?</a></li>
82 <li><a href="#iosinit">What is this <tt>llvm.global_ctors</tt> and
Chris Lattnerc50bbc92004-03-29 19:14:35 +000083 <tt>_GLOBAL__I__tmp_webcompile...</tt> stuff that happens when I
Chris Lattner5a53c5d2005-02-25 20:30:21 +000084 #include &lt;iostream&gt;?</a></li>
85 <li><a href="#codedce">Where did all of my code go??</a></li>
86 <li><a href="#undef">What is this "<tt>undef</tt>" thing that shows up in my code?</a></li>
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +000087 </ol>
88 </li>
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +000089</ol>
90
Chris Lattner7911ce22004-05-23 21:07:27 +000091<div class="doc_author">
92 <p>Written by <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu">The LLVM Team</a></p>
93</div>
94
95
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +000096<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
97<div class="doc_section">
98 <a name="license">License</a>
99</div>
100<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
101
102<div class="question">
103<p>Why are the LLVM source code and the front-end distributed under different
104licenses?</p>
105</div>
106
107<div class="answer">
108<p>The C/C++ front-ends are based on GCC and must be distributed under the GPL.
109Our aim is to distribute LLVM source code under a <em>much less restrictive</em>
110license, in particular one that does not compel users who distribute tools based
111on modifying the source to redistribute the modified source code as well.</p>
112</div>
113
114<div class="question">
115<p>Does the University of Illinois Open Source License really qualify as an
116"open source" license?</p>
117</div>
118
119<div class="answer">
120<p>Yes, the license is <a
121href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/UoI-NCSA.php">certified</a> by the Open
122Source Initiative (OSI).</p>
123</div>
124
125<div class="question">
126<p>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute the modified source?</p>
127</div>
128
129<div class="answer">
130<p>Yes. The modified source distribution must retain the copyright notice and
131follow the three bulletted conditions listed in the <a
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000132href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/releases/1.3/LICENSE.TXT">LLVM license</a>.</p>
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +0000133</div>
134
135<div class="question">
136<p>Can I modify LLVM source code and redistribute binaries or other tools based
137on it, without redistributing the source?</p>
138</div>
139
140<div class="answer">
141<p>Yes, this is why we distribute LLVM under a less restrictive license than
142GPL, as explained in the first question above.</p>
143</div>
144
145<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
146<div class="doc_section">
147 <a name="source">Source Code</a>
148</div>
149<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
150
151<div class="question">
152<p>In what language is LLVM written?</p>
153</div>
154
155<div class="answer">
156<p>All of the LLVM tools and libraries are written in C++ with extensive use of
157the STL.</p>
158</div>
159
160<div class="question">
161<p>How portable is the LLVM source code?</p>
162</div>
163
164<div class="answer">
165<p>The LLVM source code should be portable to most modern UNIX-like operating
166systems. Most of the code is written in standard C++ with operating system
167services abstracted to a support library. The tools required to build and test
168LLVM have been ported to a plethora of platforms.</p>
169
170<p>Some porting problems may exist in the following areas:</p>
171
172<ul>
173
174 <li>The GCC front end code is not as portable as the LLVM suite, so it may not
175 compile as well on unsupported platforms.</li>
176
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +0000177 <li>The LLVM build system relies heavily on UNIX shell tools, like the Bourne
178 Shell and sed. Porting to systems without these tools (MacOS 9, Plan 9) will
179 require more effort.</li>
180
181</ul>
182
183</div>
184
185<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
186<div class="doc_section">
187 <a name="build">Build Problems</a>
188</div>
189<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
190
191<div class="question">
192<p>When I run configure, it finds the wrong C compiler.</p>
193</div>
194
195<div class="answer">
196
197<p>The <tt>configure</tt> script attempts to locate first <tt>gcc</tt> and then
198<tt>cc</tt>, unless it finds compiler paths set in <tt>CC</tt> and <tt>CXX</tt>
199for the C and C++ compiler, respectively.</p>
200
201<p>If <tt>configure</tt> finds the wrong compiler, either adjust your
202<tt>PATH</tt> environment variable or set <tt>CC</tt> and <tt>CXX</tt>
203explicitly.</p>
204
205</div>
206
207<div class="question">
208<p>I compile the code, and I get some error about <tt>/localhome</tt>.</p>
209</div>
210
211<div class="answer">
212
213<p>There are several possible causes for this. The first is that you didn't set
214a pathname properly when using <tt>configure</tt>, and it defaulted to a
215pathname that we use on our research machines.</p>
216
217<p>Another possibility is that we hardcoded a path in our Makefiles. If you see
218this, please email the LLVM bug mailing list with the name of the offending
219Makefile and a description of what is wrong with it.</p>
220
221</div>
222
223<div class="question">
224<p>The <tt>configure</tt> script finds the right C compiler, but it uses the
225LLVM linker from a previous build. What do I do?</p>
226</div>
227
228<div class="answer">
229<p>The <tt>configure</tt> script uses the <tt>PATH</tt> to find executables, so
230if it's grabbing the wrong linker/assembler/etc, there are two ways to fix
231it:</p>
232
233<ol>
234
235 <li><p>Adjust your <tt>PATH</tt> environment variable so that the correct
236 program appears first in the <tt>PATH</tt>. This may work, but may not be
237 convenient when you want them <i>first</i> in your path for other
238 work.</p></li>
239
240 <li><p>Run <tt>configure</tt> with an alternative <tt>PATH</tt> that is
241 correct. In a Borne compatible shell, the syntax would be:</p>
242
Misha Brukman7ce62cc2004-06-01 18:51:03 +0000243 <p><tt>PATH=[the path without the bad program] ./configure ...</tt></p>
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +0000244
245 <p>This is still somewhat inconvenient, but it allows <tt>configure</tt>
246 to do its work without having to adjust your <tt>PATH</tt>
247 permanently.</p></li>
248
249</ol>
250
251</div>
252
253<div class="question">
254<p>When creating a dynamic library, I get a strange GLIBC error.</p>
255</div>
256
257<div class="answer">
258<p>Under some operating systems (i.e. Linux), libtool does not work correctly if
259GCC was compiled with the --disable-shared option. To work around this, install
260your own version of GCC that has shared libraries enabled by default.</p>
261</div>
262
263<div class="question">
264<p>I've updated my source tree from CVS, and now my build is trying to use a
265file/directory that doesn't exist.</p>
266</div>
267
268<div class="answer">
269<p>You need to re-run configure in your object directory. When new Makefiles
270are added to the source tree, they have to be copied over to the object tree in
271order to be used by the build.</p>
272</div>
273
274<div class="question">
275<p>I've modified a Makefile in my source tree, but my build tree keeps using the
276old version. What do I do?</p>
277</div>
278
279<div class="answer">
280
281<p>If the Makefile already exists in your object tree, you
282can just run the following command in the top level directory of your object
283tree:</p>
284
285<p><tt>./config.status &lt;relative path to Makefile&gt;</tt><p>
286
287<p>If the Makefile is new, you will have to modify the configure script to copy
288it over.</p>
289
290</div>
291
292<div class="question">
293<p>I've upgraded to a new version of LLVM, and I get strange build errors.</p>
294</div>
295
296<div class="answer">
297
298<p>Sometimes, changes to the LLVM source code alters how the build system works.
299Changes in libtool, autoconf, or header file dependencies are especially prone
300to this sort of problem.</p>
301
302<p>The best thing to try is to remove the old files and re-build. In most
303cases, this takes care of the problem. To do this, just type <tt>make
304clean</tt> and then <tt>make</tt> in the directory that fails to build.</p>
305
306</div>
307
308<div class="question">
309<p>I've built LLVM and am testing it, but the tests freeze.</p>
310</div>
311
312<div class="answer">
313
314<p>This is most likely occurring because you built a profile or release
315(optimized) build of LLVM and have not specified the same information on the
316<tt>gmake</tt> command line.</p>
317
318<p>For example, if you built LLVM with the command:</p>
319
320<p><tt>gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1</tt>
321
322<p>...then you must run the tests with the following commands:</p>
323
324<p><tt>cd llvm/test<br>gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1</tt></p>
325
326</div>
327
328<div class="question">
329<p>Why do test results differ when I perform different types of builds?</p>
330</div>
331
332<div class="answer">
333
334<p>The LLVM test suite is dependent upon several features of the LLVM tools and
335libraries.</p>
336
337<p>First, the debugging assertions in code are not enabled in optimized or
338profiling builds. Hence, tests that used to fail may pass.</p>
339
340<p>Second, some tests may rely upon debugging options or behavior that is only
341available in the debug build. These tests will fail in an optimized or profile
342build.</p>
343
344</div>
345
Chris Lattner8a0b9242003-12-08 05:43:19 +0000346<div class="question">
Chris Lattner306acee2003-12-22 04:06:12 +0000347<p>Compiling LLVM with GCC 3.3.2 fails, what should I do?</p>
Chris Lattner8a0b9242003-12-08 05:43:19 +0000348</div>
349
350<div class="answer">
Chris Lattner306acee2003-12-22 04:06:12 +0000351<p>This is <a href="http://gcc.gnu.org/PR?13392">a bug in GCC</a>, and
352 affects projects other than LLVM. Try upgrading or downgrading your GCC.</p>
Chris Lattner8a0b9242003-12-08 05:43:19 +0000353</div>
354
John Criswelld1799612004-03-29 20:23:11 +0000355<div class="question">
Misha Brukman1739aec2004-09-09 16:36:47 +0000356<p>After CVS update, rebuilding gives the error "No rule to make target".</p>
357</div>
358
359<div class="answer">
360<p>If the error is of the form:</p>
361
362<div class="doc_code">
363<tt>
364gmake[2]: *** No rule to make target `/path/to/somefile', needed by
365`/path/to/another/file.d'.<br>
366Stop.
367</tt>
368</div>
369
370<p>This may occur anytime files are moved within the CVS repository or removed
371entirely. In this case, the best solution is to erase all <tt>.d</tt> files,
372which list dependencies for source files, and rebuild:</p>
373
374<div class="doc_code">
375<pre>
376% cd $LLVM_OBJ_DIR
377% rm -f `find . -name \*\.d`
378% gmake
379</pre>
380</div>
381
382<p>In other cases, it may be necessary to run <tt>make clean</tt> before
383rebuilding.</p>
384</div>
385
Misha Brukmana6538852003-11-06 21:55:44 +0000386<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
John Criswell6ea30b02003-11-18 16:05:23 +0000387<div class="doc_section">
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000388 <a name="cfe">Using the GCC Front End</a>
John Criswell6ea30b02003-11-18 16:05:23 +0000389</div>
390
391<div class="question">
392<p>
393When I compile software that uses a configure script, the configure script
394thinks my system has all of the header files and libraries it is testing for.
395How do I get configure to work correctly?
396</p>
397</div>
398
399<div class="answer">
400<p>
401The configure script is getting things wrong because the LLVM linker allows
402symbols to be undefined at link time (so that they can be resolved during JIT
403or translation to the C back end). That is why configure thinks your system
404"has everything."
405</p>
406<p>
407To work around this, perform the following steps:
408</p>
409
410<ol>
411 <li>
412 Make sure the CC and CXX environment variables contains the full path to the
413 LLVM GCC front end.
414 </li>
415
416 <li>
417 Make sure that the regular C compiler is first in your PATH.
418 </li>
419
420 <li>
421 Add the string "-Wl,-native" to your CFLAGS environment variable.
422 </li>
423</ol>
424
425<p>
426This will allow the gccld linker to create a native code executable instead of
427a shell script that runs the JIT. Creating native code requires standard
428linkage, which in turn will allow the configure script to find out if code is
429not linking on your system because the feature isn't available on your system.
430</p>
431</div>
432
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000433<div class="question">
John Criswell6ea30b02003-11-18 16:05:23 +0000434<p>
435When I compile code using the LLVM GCC front end, it complains that it cannot
John Criswellcd161192004-03-12 18:20:15 +0000436find libcrtend.a.
John Criswell6ea30b02003-11-18 16:05:23 +0000437</p>
438</div>
439
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000440<div class="answer">
John Criswell6ea30b02003-11-18 16:05:23 +0000441<p>
Reid Spencerf96eb572004-12-15 00:14:01 +0000442The only way this can happen is if you haven't installed the runtime library. To
443correct this, do:</p>
444<pre>
445 % cd llvm/runtime
446 % make clean ; make install-bytecode
447</pre>
John Criswell6ea30b02003-11-18 16:05:23 +0000448</div>
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000449
Tanya Lattner14fc5c12005-04-25 20:36:56 +0000450<div class="question">
451<p>
452How can I disable all optimizations when compiling code using the LLVM GCC front end?
453</p>
454</div>
455
456<div class="answer">
457<p>
458Passing "-Wa,-disable-opt -Wl,-disable-opt" will disable *all* cleanup and
459optimizations done at the llvm level, leaving you with the truly horrible
460code that you desire.
461</p>
462</div>
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000463
464<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
465<div class="doc_section">
466 <a name="cfe_code">Questions about code generated by the GCC front-end</a>
467</div>
468
Chris Lattnera28e3ce2003-12-16 22:33:55 +0000469<div class="question"><p>
Chris Lattner5a53c5d2005-02-25 20:30:21 +0000470<a name="__main"></a>
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000471What is this <tt>__main()</tt> call that gets inserted into <tt>main()</tt>?
Chris Lattnera28e3ce2003-12-16 22:33:55 +0000472</p></div>
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000473
474<div class="answer">
475<p>
476The <tt>__main</tt> call is inserted by the C/C++ compiler in order to guarantee
477that static constructors and destructors are called when the program starts up
478and shuts down. In C, you can create static constructors and destructors by
479using GCC extensions, and in C++ you can do so by creating a global variable
480whose class has a ctor or dtor.
481</p>
482
483<p>
484The actual implementation of <tt>__main</tt> lives in the
485<tt>llvm/runtime/GCCLibraries/crtend/</tt> directory in the source-base, and is
486linked in automatically when you link the program.
487</p>
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000488</div>
489
Chris Lattnera28e3ce2003-12-16 22:33:55 +0000490<!--=========================================================================-->
Chris Lattnercc33d702003-11-19 05:53:12 +0000491
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000492<div class="question">
Chris Lattner5a53c5d2005-02-25 20:30:21 +0000493<a name="iosinit"></a>
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000494<p> What is this <tt>llvm.global_ctors</tt> and
495<tt>_GLOBAL__I__tmp_webcompile...</tt> stuff that happens when I #include
496&lt;iostream&gt;?</p>
497</div>
Chris Lattnerc50bbc92004-03-29 19:14:35 +0000498
499<div class="answer">
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000500
501<p>If you #include the &lt;iostream&gt; header into a C++ translation unit, the
Chris Lattnerc50bbc92004-03-29 19:14:35 +0000502file will probably use the <tt>std::cin</tt>/<tt>std::cout</tt>/... global
503objects. However, C++ does not guarantee an order of initialization between
504static objects in different translation units, so if a static ctor/dtor in your
505.cpp file used <tt>std::cout</tt>, for example, the object would not necessarily
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000506be automatically initialized before your use.</p>
Chris Lattnerc50bbc92004-03-29 19:14:35 +0000507
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000508<p>To make <tt>std::cout</tt> and friends work correctly in these scenarios, the
Chris Lattnerc50bbc92004-03-29 19:14:35 +0000509STL that we use declares a static object that gets created in every translation
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000510unit that includes <tt>&lt;iostream&gt;</tt>. This object has a static
511constructor and destructor that initializes and destroys the global iostream
512objects before they could possibly be used in the file. The code that you see
513in the .ll file corresponds to the constructor and destructor registration code.
Chris Lattnerc50bbc92004-03-29 19:14:35 +0000514</p>
515
Misha Brukman237dc2a2004-12-03 23:58:18 +0000516<p>If you would like to make it easier to <b>understand</b> the LLVM code
517generated by the compiler in the demo page, consider using <tt>printf()</tt>
518instead of <tt>iostream</tt>s to print values.</p>
519
Chris Lattnerc50bbc92004-03-29 19:14:35 +0000520</div>
521
Chris Lattner5a53c5d2005-02-25 20:30:21 +0000522<!--=========================================================================-->
523
524<div class="question"><p>
525<a name="codedce"></a>
526Where did all of my code go??
527</p></div>
528
529<div class="answer">
530<p>
531If you are using the LLVM demo page, you may often wonder what happened to all
532of the code that you typed in. Remember that the demo script is running the
533code through the LLVM optimizers, so if your code doesn't actually do anything
534useful, it might all be deleted.
535</p>
536
537<p>
538To prevent this, make sure that the code is actually needed. For example, if
539you are computing some expression, return the value from the function instead of
540leaving it in a local variable. If you really want to constrain the optimizer,
541you can read from and assign to <tt>volatile</tt> global variables.
542</p>
543</div>
544
545<!--=========================================================================-->
546
547<div class="question"><p>
548<a name="undef"></a>
549<p>What is this "<tt>undef</tt>" thing that shows up in my code?
550</p></div>
551
552<div class="answer">
553<p>
554<a href="LangRef.html#undef"><tt>undef</tt></a> is the LLVM way of representing
555a value that is not defined. You can get these if you do not initialize a
556variable before you use it. For example, the C function:</p>
557
558<div class="doc_code">
559 <tt>int X() { int i; return i; }</tt>
560</div>
561
562<p>Is compiled to "<tt>ret int undef</tt>" because "i" never has a value
563specified for it.
564</p>
565</div>
566
John Criswell6ea30b02003-11-18 16:05:23 +0000567<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
John Criswellc310f622003-10-13 16:13:06 +0000568
569<hr>
Misha Brukman7ce62cc2004-06-01 18:51:03 +0000570<address>
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