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Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +00008 <title>LLVM 2.9 Release Notes</title>
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10<body>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000011
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000012<div class="doc_title">LLVM 2.9 Release Notes</div>
Mikhail Glushenkov024f7cf2008-10-13 02:08:34 +000013
Chris Lattnerc871bac2010-03-17 04:02:39 +000014<img align=right src="http://llvm.org/img/DragonSmall.png"
Gabor Greif27b166352010-04-22 10:21:43 +000015 width="136" height="136" alt="LLVM Dragon Logo">
Chris Lattnerc871bac2010-03-17 04:02:39 +000016
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000017<ol>
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +000018 <li><a href="#intro">Introduction</a></li>
Chris Lattnerf5cd9862008-10-13 18:01:01 +000019 <li><a href="#subproj">Sub-project Status Update</a></li>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000020 <li><a href="#externalproj">External Projects Using LLVM 2.9</a></li>
21 <li><a href="#whatsnew">What's New in LLVM 2.9?</a></li>
Chris Lattner77a51732004-04-30 22:17:12 +000022 <li><a href="GettingStarted.html">Installation Instructions</a></li>
Dan Gohmanad888912008-10-14 16:23:02 +000023 <li><a href="#knownproblems">Known Problems</a></li>
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +000024 <li><a href="#additionalinfo">Additional Information</a></li>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000025</ol>
26
Chris Lattner020e1fc2004-05-23 21:07:27 +000027<div class="doc_author">
Dan Gohmanad888912008-10-14 16:23:02 +000028 <p>Written by the <a href="http://llvm.org">LLVM Team</a></p>
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +000029</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000030
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000031<h1 style="color:red">These are in-progress notes for the upcoming LLVM 2.9
Jeffrey Yasskin0830b972010-01-28 01:14:43 +000032release.<br>
33You may prefer the
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000034<a href="http://llvm.org/releases/2.8/docs/ReleaseNotes.html">LLVM 2.8
Dan Gohman62af9d22010-05-03 23:51:05 +000035Release Notes</a>.</h1>
Jeffrey Yasskin0830b972010-01-28 01:14:43 +000036
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000037<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +000038<div class="doc_section">
39 <a name="intro">Introduction</a>
40</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000041<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
42
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +000043<div class="doc_text">
44
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +000045<p>This document contains the release notes for the LLVM Compiler
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000046Infrastructure, release 2.9. Here we describe the status of LLVM, including
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +000047major improvements from the previous release and significant known problems.
Mikhail Glushenkov25422542009-03-01 18:09:47 +000048All LLVM releases may be downloaded from the <a
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +000049href="http://llvm.org/releases/">LLVM releases web site</a>.</p>
Chris Lattner62495762003-10-02 16:38:05 +000050
Chris Lattnerb5bb5972004-12-07 08:04:13 +000051<p>For more information about LLVM, including information about the latest
Chris Lattnera69595e2005-10-29 07:07:09 +000052release, please check out the <a href="http://llvm.org/">main LLVM
Chris Lattnere7525b52003-10-07 21:38:31 +000053web site</a>. If you have questions or comments, the <a
Chris Lattner0b1c9a52010-03-17 04:41:49 +000054href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev">LLVM Developer's
55Mailing List</a> is a good place to send them.</p>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000056
Mikhail Glushenkov024f7cf2008-10-13 02:08:34 +000057<p>Note that if you are reading this file from a Subversion checkout or the
Chris Lattner0a1fd102007-09-21 03:54:09 +000058main LLVM web page, this document applies to the <i>next</i> release, not the
Gabor Greif355f81c2008-10-14 11:00:32 +000059current one. To see the release notes for a specific release, please see the
Chris Lattner0a1fd102007-09-21 03:54:09 +000060<a href="http://llvm.org/releases/">releases page</a>.</p>
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +000061
62</div>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000063
64<!-- NOTE: last release for llvm-gcc -->
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +000065
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +000066<!--
67Almost dead code.
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000068 lib/Transforms/IPO/MergeFunctions.cpp => consider for 3.0.
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +000069-->
70
71
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000072<!-- Features that need text if they're finished for 3.0:
Chris Lattnera67df2d2010-04-22 06:28:20 +000073 combiner-aa?
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +000074 strong phi elim
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +000075 loop dependence analysis
Chris Lattnerbd244042010-08-28 16:33:36 +000076 TBAA
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +000077 CorrelatedValuePropagation
Chris Lattner2b8a52e2008-02-10 07:46:44 +000078 -->
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +000079
Chris Lattnerf5cd9862008-10-13 18:01:01 +000080<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
81<div class="doc_section">
82 <a name="subproj">Sub-project Status Update</a>
Chris Lattner625a3d82008-06-08 21:34:41 +000083</div>
Chris Lattnerf5cd9862008-10-13 18:01:01 +000084<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Chris Lattner625a3d82008-06-08 21:34:41 +000085
86<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattnerc75fd522008-06-08 21:58:17 +000087<p>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +000088The LLVM 2.9 distribution currently consists of code from the core LLVM
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +000089repository (which roughly includes the LLVM optimizers, code generators
90and supporting tools), the Clang repository and the llvm-gcc repository. In
91addition to this code, the LLVM Project includes other sub-projects that are in
92development. Here we include updates on these subprojects.
Bill Wendlingf170d2e2009-03-02 04:28:57 +000093</p>
Chris Lattnerf5cd9862008-10-13 18:01:01 +000094
Chris Lattnerc75fd522008-06-08 21:58:17 +000095</div>
96
Chris Lattnerf5cd9862008-10-13 18:01:01 +000097
Chris Lattnerc75fd522008-06-08 21:58:17 +000098<!--=========================================================================-->
Chris Lattnerf5cd9862008-10-13 18:01:01 +000099<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner44c09cd2008-10-13 18:11:54 +0000100<a name="clang">Clang: C/C++/Objective-C Frontend Toolkit</a>
Chris Lattnerc75fd522008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000101</div>
102
103<div class="doc_text">
104
Chris Lattner5de7f6e2010-04-26 17:42:18 +0000105<p><a href="http://clang.llvm.org/">Clang</a> is an LLVM front end for the C,
106C++, and Objective-C languages. Clang aims to provide a better user experience
107through expressive diagnostics, a high level of conformance to language
108standards, fast compilation, and low memory use. Like LLVM, Clang provides a
109modular, library-based architecture that makes it suitable for creating or
110integrating with other development tools. Clang is considered a
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +0000111production-quality compiler for C, Objective-C, C++ and Objective-C++ on x86
112(32- and 64-bit), and for darwin-arm targets.</p>
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000113
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000114<p>In the LLVM 2.9 time-frame, the Clang team has made many improvements:</p>
Bill Wendlingef362462008-10-27 09:27:33 +0000115
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000116<ul>
117</ul>
Chris Lattner44c09cd2008-10-13 18:11:54 +0000118</div>
119
120<!--=========================================================================-->
121<div class="doc_subsection">
122<a name="clangsa">Clang Static Analyzer</a>
123</div>
124
125<div class="doc_text">
126
Chris Lattner2284b6a2010-04-22 06:38:11 +0000127<p>The <a href="http://clang-analyzer.llvm.org/">Clang Static Analyzer</a>
128 project is an effort to use static source code analysis techniques to
129 automatically find bugs in C and Objective-C programs (and hopefully <a
130 href="http://clang-analyzer.llvm.org/dev_cxx.html">C++ in the
131 future</a>!). The tool is very good at finding bugs that occur on specific
132 paths through code, such as on error conditions.</p>
Chris Lattnerbcffa5a2008-10-14 00:52:49 +0000133
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000134<p>The LLVM 2.9 release...
Chris Lattner2284b6a2010-04-22 06:38:11 +0000135</p>
Chris Lattnerc75fd522008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000136
137</div>
138
Chris Lattnerf5cd9862008-10-13 18:01:01 +0000139<!--=========================================================================-->
140<div class="doc_subsection">
Duncan Sands92452b92010-04-02 09:23:15 +0000141<a name="dragonegg">DragonEgg: llvm-gcc ported to gcc-4.5</a>
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000142</div>
143
144<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000145NOTE: This should be written to be self-contained without referencing llvm-gcc.
146
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000147<p>
Duncan Sands92452b92010-04-02 09:23:15 +0000148<a href="http://dragonegg.llvm.org/">DragonEgg</a> is a port of llvm-gcc to
Duncan Sands7f9a0dc2010-09-30 17:37:34 +0000149gcc-4.5. Unlike llvm-gcc, dragonegg in theory does not require any gcc-4.5
150modifications whatsoever (currently one small patch is needed) thanks to the
151new <a href="http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/plugins">gcc plugin architecture</a>.
152DragonEgg is a gcc plugin that makes gcc-4.5 use the LLVM optimizers and code
153generators instead of gcc's, just like with llvm-gcc.
Duncan Sands92452b92010-04-02 09:23:15 +0000154</p>
155
156<p>
Duncan Sands7f9a0dc2010-09-30 17:37:34 +0000157DragonEgg is still a work in progress, but it is able to compile a lot of code,
158for example all of gcc, LLVM and clang. Currently Ada, C, C++ and Fortran work
159well, while all other languages either don't work at all or only work poorly.
160For the moment only the x86-32 and x86-64 targets are supported, and only on
161linux and darwin (darwin may need additional gcc patches).
Duncan Sands92452b92010-04-02 09:23:15 +0000162</p>
163
164<p>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000165The 2.9 release has the following notable changes:
Duncan Sands7f9a0dc2010-09-30 17:37:34 +0000166<ul>
Duncan Sands7f9a0dc2010-09-30 17:37:34 +0000167</ul>
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000168
169</div>
170
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000171<!--=========================================================================-->
172<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000173<a name="vmkit">VMKit: JVM Virtual Machine Implementation</a>
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000174</div>
175
176<div class="doc_text">
177<p>
178The <a href="http://vmkit.llvm.org/">VMKit project</a> is an implementation of
179a Java Virtual Machine (Java VM or JVM) that uses LLVM for static and
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000180just-in-time compilation.
181
182UPDATE.
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000183</p>
184</div>
185
186<!--=========================================================================-->
187<div class="doc_subsection">
188<a name="compiler-rt">compiler-rt: Compiler Runtime Library</a>
189</div>
190
191<div class="doc_text">
192<p>
193The new LLVM <a href="http://compiler-rt.llvm.org/">compiler-rt project</a>
194is a simple library that provides an implementation of the low-level
195target-specific hooks required by code generation and other runtime components.
196For example, when compiling for a 32-bit target, converting a double to a 64-bit
197unsigned integer is compiled into a runtime call to the "__fixunsdfdi"
198function. The compiler-rt library provides highly optimized implementations of
199this and other low-level routines (some are 3x faster than the equivalent
200libgcc routines).</p>
201
202<p>
203All of the code in the compiler-rt project is available under the standard LLVM
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000204License, a "BSD-style" license.
205
206NEW: MIT License as well.
207
208New in LLVM 2.9, UPDATE</p>
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000209
210</div>
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000211
212<!--=========================================================================-->
213<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +0000214<a name="lldb">LLDB: Low Level Debugger</a>
215</div>
216
217<div class="doc_text">
218<p>
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000219<a href="http://lldb.llvm.org/">LLDB</a> is a brand new member of the LLVM
220umbrella of projects. LLDB is a next generation, high-performance debugger. It
221is built as a set of reusable components which highly leverage existing
222libraries in the larger LLVM Project, such as the Clang expression parser, the
223LLVM disassembler and the LLVM JIT.</p>
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +0000224
225<p>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000226LLDB is in early development and not included as part of the LLVM 2.9 release,
227UPDATE!
228
229<!--
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000230but is mature enough to support basic debugging scenarios on Mac OS X in C,
231Objective-C and C++. We'd really like help extending and expanding LLDB to
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000232support new platforms, new languages, new architectures, and new features.-->
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +0000233</p>
234
235</div>
236
237<!--=========================================================================-->
238<div class="doc_subsection">
239<a name="libc++">libc++: C++ Standard Library</a>
240</div>
241
242<div class="doc_text">
243<p>
Tobias Grosser436bc5f2010-10-06 21:07:30 +0000244<a href="http://libcxx.llvm.org/">libc++</a> is another new member of the LLVM
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000245family. It is an implementation of the C++ standard library, written from the
246ground up to specifically target the forthcoming C++'0X standard and focus on
247delivering great performance.</p>
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +0000248
249<p>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000250As of the LLVM 2.9 release, UPDATE!
251
252<!--libc++ is virtually feature complete, but would
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000253benefit from more testing and better integration with Clang++. It is also
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000254looking forward to the C++ committee finalizing the C++'0x standard.-->
Chris Lattner342f9572010-09-29 05:30:03 +0000255</p>
256
257</div>
258
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000259
Daniel Dunbar8fbd8aa2010-10-04 17:39:47 +0000260
261<!--=========================================================================-->
262<div class="doc_subsection">
263<a name="klee">KLEE: A Symbolic Execution Virtual Machine</a>
264</div>
265
266<div class="doc_text">
267<p>
268<a href="http://klee.llvm.org/">KLEE</a> is a symbolic execution framework for
269programs in LLVM bitcode form. KLEE tries to symbolically evaluate "all" paths
270through the application and records state transitions that lead to fault
271states. This allows it to construct testcases that lead to faults and can even
272be used to verify some algorithms.
273</p>
274
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000275<p>UPDATE!</p>
Daniel Dunbar8fbd8aa2010-10-04 17:39:47 +0000276
277</div>
278
279
Chris Lattner53e06f92009-02-26 22:33:38 +0000280<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
281<div class="doc_section">
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000282 <a name="externalproj">External Open Source Projects Using LLVM 2.9</a>
Chris Lattner53e06f92009-02-26 22:33:38 +0000283</div>
284<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
285
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000286<div class="doc_text">
287
288<p>An exciting aspect of LLVM is that it is used as an enabling technology for
289 a lot of other language and tools projects. This section lists some of the
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000290 projects that have already been updated to work with LLVM 2.9.</p>
Chris Lattnerdf85c892010-04-26 17:38:10 +0000291</div>
292
Chris Lattner120804a2010-10-03 23:49:06 +0000293
294
Chris Lattnerca7c8962010-10-01 06:34:49 +0000295
Chris Lattnerc75fd522008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000296<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
297<div class="doc_section">
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000298 <a name="whatsnew">What's New in LLVM 2.9?</a>
Chris Lattnerc75fd522008-06-08 21:58:17 +0000299</div>
300<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
301
Chris Lattnerb7bc2aa2008-06-08 22:59:35 +0000302<div class="doc_text">
303
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000304<p>This release includes a huge number of bug fixes, performance tweaks and
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000305minor improvements. Some of the major improvements and new features are listed
306in this section.
Chris Lattnerb7bc2aa2008-06-08 22:59:35 +0000307</p>
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000308
Chris Lattnera67df2d2010-04-22 06:28:20 +0000309</div>
310
311<!--=========================================================================-->
312<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnercdc44ed2008-02-06 18:00:06 +0000313<a name="majorfeatures">Major New Features</a>
314</div>
315
316<div class="doc_text">
317
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000318<p>LLVM 2.9 includes several major new capabilities:</p>
Chris Lattner97beb512007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000319
320<ul>
Chris Lattner458e79f2008-02-10 08:18:42 +0000321</ul>
Chris Lattner10a3cc42010-03-17 06:41:58 +0000322
Chris Lattner97beb512007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000323</div>
324
Chris Lattner0a1fd102007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000325<!--=========================================================================-->
326<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerd1094e02009-03-02 02:37:32 +0000327<a name="coreimprovements">LLVM IR and Core Improvements</a>
Chris Lattnerdd6acc02008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000328</div>
329
330<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000331<p>LLVM IR has several new features for better support of new targets and that
332expose new optimization opportunities:</p>
Chris Lattnerdd6acc02008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000333
Chris Lattnerb7112222008-06-05 06:25:56 +0000334<ul>
Chris Lattnerdd6acc02008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000335</ul>
Mikhail Glushenkov024f7cf2008-10-13 02:08:34 +0000336
Chris Lattnerdd6acc02008-02-10 08:17:19 +0000337</div>
338
339<!--=========================================================================-->
340<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner2b8a52e2008-02-10 07:46:44 +0000341<a name="optimizer">Optimizer Improvements</a>
342</div>
343
344<div class="doc_text">
345
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000346<p>In addition to a large array of minor performance tweaks and bug fixes, this
Chris Lattner25879d72008-10-13 21:50:36 +0000347release includes a few major enhancements and additions to the optimizers:</p>
Chris Lattner2b8a52e2008-02-10 07:46:44 +0000348
349<ul>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000350TBAA.
Chris Lattnerfcc65a72010-10-04 02:42:39 +0000351</ul>
352
353<!--
354<p>In addition to these features that are done in 2.8, there is preliminary
355 support in the release for Type Based Alias Analysis
Chris Lattnerbf1cf672010-10-02 21:59:30 +0000356 Preliminary work on TBAA but not usable in 2.8.
357 New CorrelatedValuePropagation pass, not on by default in 2.8 yet.
Chris Lattnerfcc65a72010-10-04 02:42:39 +0000358-->
Chris Lattnerd1094e02009-03-02 02:37:32 +0000359
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000360</div>
Chris Lattnerd1094e02009-03-02 02:37:32 +0000361
Chris Lattner7795ea92008-06-08 02:45:07 +0000362<!--=========================================================================-->
363<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerf25bc192010-09-30 16:31:33 +0000364<a name="mc">MC Level Improvements</a>
365</div>
366
367<div class="doc_text">
368<p>
Chris Lattnerbf1cf672010-10-02 21:59:30 +0000369The LLVM Machine Code (aka MC) subsystem was created to solve a number
Chris Lattnerf25bc192010-09-30 16:31:33 +0000370of problems in the realm of assembly, disassembly, object file format handling,
371and a number of other related areas that CPU instruction-set level tools work
Chris Lattnerbf1cf672010-10-02 21:59:30 +0000372in.</p>
373
Chris Lattnerbf1cf672010-10-02 21:59:30 +0000374<ul>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000375ELF/COFF support?
Chris Lattnerbf1cf672010-10-02 21:59:30 +0000376</ul>
377
378<p>For more information, please see the <a
Chris Lattnerf25bc192010-09-30 16:31:33 +0000379href="http://blog.llvm.org/2010/04/intro-to-llvm-mc-project.html">Intro to the
380LLVM MC Project Blog Post</a>.
381</p>
382
Chris Lattnerf25bc192010-09-30 16:31:33 +0000383</div>
384
385
Chris Lattnerf25bc192010-09-30 16:31:33 +0000386<!--=========================================================================-->
387<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerd434bfb2009-03-02 03:24:11 +0000388<a name="codegen">Target Independent Code Generator Improvements</a>
Chris Lattner7795ea92008-06-08 02:45:07 +0000389</div>
390
391<div class="doc_text">
392
Mikhail Glushenkov25422542009-03-01 18:09:47 +0000393<p>We have put a significant amount of work into the code generator
394infrastructure, which allows us to implement more aggressive algorithms and make
395it run faster:</p>
Chris Lattner7795ea92008-06-08 02:45:07 +0000396
397<ul>
Chris Lattner9fd1e922010-10-04 03:58:12 +0000398<!-- SplitKit -->
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000399FastISel for ARM.
Chris Lattner0a1fd102007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000400</ul>
Chris Lattner0a1fd102007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000401</div>
402
Chris Lattnerd1094e02009-03-02 02:37:32 +0000403<!--=========================================================================-->
404<div class="doc_subsection">
405<a name="x86">X86-32 and X86-64 Target Improvements</a>
406</div>
407
408<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattnerd3f45c82010-10-04 04:39:25 +0000409<p>New features and major changes in the X86 target include:
Chris Lattnerd1094e02009-03-02 02:37:32 +0000410</p>
411
412<ul>
Chris Lattnerd1094e02009-03-02 02:37:32 +0000413</ul>
414
Chris Lattnerd1094e02009-03-02 02:37:32 +0000415</div>
Chris Lattner0a1fd102007-09-21 03:54:09 +0000416
417<!--=========================================================================-->
418<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000419<a name="ARM">ARM Target Improvements</a>
Chris Lattnerc92d7692009-03-01 02:30:21 +0000420</div>
421
422<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000423<p>New features of the ARM target include:
424</p>
Chris Lattnerc92d7692009-03-01 02:30:21 +0000425
426<ul>
Bob Wilsone44f2982010-09-13 17:39:35 +0000427</ul>
Chris Lattneraa61f412009-10-13 17:48:04 +0000428</div>
Chris Lattnerc92d7692009-03-01 02:30:21 +0000429
Chris Lattner6cb64032008-06-05 08:02:49 +0000430
431<!--=========================================================================-->
432<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000433<a name="changes">Major Changes and Removed Features</a>
434</div>
435
436<div class="doc_text">
437
Chris Lattner934e2d42008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000438<p>If you're already an LLVM user or developer with out-of-tree changes based
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000439on LLVM 2.8, this section lists some "gotchas" that you may run into upgrading
Chris Lattner934e2d42008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000440from the previous release.</p>
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000441
442<ul>
Chris Lattner87e04952010-04-21 05:17:40 +0000443</ul>
Chris Lattner934e2d42008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000444
Chris Lattnera7f45cf2010-10-04 01:29:06 +0000445
446
Chris Lattner934e2d42008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000447<p>In addition, many APIs have changed in this release. Some of the major LLVM
448API changes are:</p>
Chris Lattner934e2d42008-10-13 22:06:31 +0000449<ul>
Devang Pateldbf83832008-10-14 20:03:43 +0000450</ul>
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000451
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000452</div>
453
Daniel Dunbarf70898a2010-10-04 20:11:41 +0000454<!--=========================================================================-->
455<div class="doc_subsection">
456<a name="devtree_changes">Development Infrastructure Changes</a>
457</div>
458
459<div class="doc_text">
460
461<p>This section lists changes to the LLVM development infrastructure. This
462mostly impacts users who actively work on LLVM or follow development on
463mainline, but may also impact users who leverage the LLVM build infrastructure
464or are interested in LLVM qualification.</p>
465
466<ul>
Daniel Dunbarf70898a2010-10-04 20:11:41 +0000467</ul>
468</div>
Chris Lattner1e4d5bc2008-10-13 17:57:36 +0000469
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000470<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000471<div class="doc_section">
472 <a name="knownproblems">Known Problems</a>
473</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000474<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
475
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000476<div class="doc_text">
477
Mikhail Glushenkov25422542009-03-01 18:09:47 +0000478<p>This section contains significant known problems with the LLVM system,
Chris Lattner2a092392008-11-10 05:40:34 +0000479listed by component. If you run into a problem, please check the <a
Chris Lattnera69595e2005-10-29 07:07:09 +0000480href="http://llvm.org/bugs/">LLVM bug database</a> and submit a bug if
Chris Lattnerb84f3322003-12-12 21:22:16 +0000481there isn't already one.</p>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000482
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000483</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000484
Chris Lattnerb911de42004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000485<!-- ======================================================================= -->
486<div class="doc_subsection">
487 <a name="experimental">Experimental features included with this release</a>
488</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000489
Chris Lattnerb911de42004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000490<div class="doc_text">
491
Misha Brukmanfa50a222004-05-12 21:46:05 +0000492<p>The following components of this LLVM release are either untested, known to
493be broken or unreliable, or are in early development. These components should
494not be relied on, and bugs should not be filed against them, but they may be
495useful to some people. In particular, if you would like to work on one of these
Chris Lattnere38ac152008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000496components, please contact us on the <a
497href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev">LLVMdev list</a>.</p>
Chris Lattnerb911de42004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000498
499<ul>
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000500<li>The Alpha, Blackfin, CellSPU, MicroBlaze, MSP430, MIPS, PTX, SystemZ
Chris Lattnera7f45cf2010-10-04 01:29:06 +0000501 and XCore backends are experimental.</li>
Chris Lattnerbf1cf672010-10-02 21:59:30 +0000502<li><tt>llc</tt> "<tt>-filetype=obj</tt>" is experimental on all targets
Chris Lattner0d364302011-03-10 07:43:44 +0000503 other than darwin-i386 and darwin-x86_64. FIXME: Not true on ELF anymore?</li>
504
Chris Lattnerb911de42004-03-14 02:03:02 +0000505</ul>
506
507</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000508
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000509<!-- ======================================================================= -->
510<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000511 <a name="x86-be">Known problems with the X86 back-end</a>
John Criswell3bdbd302005-11-08 21:11:33 +0000512</div>
513
514<div class="doc_text">
515
516<ul>
Anton Korobeynikov486c7d32008-06-08 10:24:13 +0000517 <li>The X86 backend does not yet support
518 all <a href="http://llvm.org/PR879">inline assembly that uses the X86
519 floating point stack</a>. It supports the 'f' and 't' constraints, but not
520 'u'.</li>
Duncan Sands0bc15262008-06-08 19:38:43 +0000521 <li>Win64 code generation wasn't widely tested. Everything should work, but we
John Criswellea03c9d2009-03-02 15:28:15 +0000522 expect small issues to happen. Also, llvm-gcc cannot build the mingw64
Chris Lattnera67df2d2010-04-22 06:28:20 +0000523 runtime currently due to lack of support for the 'u' inline assembly
524 constraint and for X87 floating point inline assembly.</li>
Dan Gohman721b3722008-06-08 23:05:11 +0000525 <li>The X86-64 backend does not yet support the LLVM IR instruction
Chris Lattnera67df2d2010-04-22 06:28:20 +0000526 <tt>va_arg</tt>. Currently, front-ends support variadic
Dan Gohman721b3722008-06-08 23:05:11 +0000527 argument constructs on X86-64 by lowering them manually.</li>
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000528</ul>
529
530</div>
531
532<!-- ======================================================================= -->
533<div class="doc_subsection">
534 <a name="ppc-be">Known problems with the PowerPC back-end</a>
535</div>
536
537<div class="doc_text">
538
539<ul>
Nicolas Geoffray77d99502007-05-15 09:21:28 +0000540<li>The Linux PPC32/ABI support needs testing for the interpreter and static
Chris Lattnerbee7b322007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000541compilation, and lacks support for debug information.</li>
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000542</ul>
543
544</div>
545
546<!-- ======================================================================= -->
547<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner97beb512007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000548 <a name="arm-be">Known problems with the ARM back-end</a>
549</div>
550
551<div class="doc_text">
552
553<ul>
Chris Lattnerbee7b322007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000554<li>Thumb mode works only on ARMv6 or higher processors. On sub-ARMv6
Duncan Sands47fc0a22007-09-26 15:59:54 +0000555processors, thumb programs can crash or produce wrong
Chris Lattnerbee7b322007-05-23 04:39:32 +0000556results (<a href="http://llvm.org/PR1388">PR1388</a>).</li>
John Criswellea03c9d2009-03-02 15:28:15 +0000557<li>Compilation for ARM Linux OABI (old ABI) is supported but not fully tested.
Chris Lattner97beb512007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000558</li>
Chris Lattner97beb512007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000559</ul>
560
561</div>
562
563<!-- ======================================================================= -->
564<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000565 <a name="sparc-be">Known problems with the SPARC back-end</a>
566</div>
567
568<div class="doc_text">
569
570<ul>
John Criswellea03c9d2009-03-02 15:28:15 +0000571<li>The SPARC backend only supports the 32-bit SPARC ABI (-m32); it does not
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000572 support the 64-bit SPARC ABI (-m64).</li>
573</ul>
574
575</div>
576
577<!-- ======================================================================= -->
578<div class="doc_subsection">
Bruno Cardoso Lopes24eb3de2008-10-25 14:56:26 +0000579 <a name="mips-be">Known problems with the MIPS back-end</a>
580</div>
581
582<div class="doc_text">
583
584<ul>
Bruno Cardoso Lopes24eb3de2008-10-25 14:56:26 +0000585<li>64-bit MIPS targets are not supported yet.</li>
586</ul>
587
588</div>
589
590<!-- ======================================================================= -->
591<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000592 <a name="alpha-be">Known problems with the Alpha back-end</a>
593</div>
594
595<div class="doc_text">
596
597<ul>
598
599<li>On 21164s, some rare FP arithmetic sequences which may trap do not have the
600appropriate nops inserted to ensure restartability.</li>
601
John Criswell3bdbd302005-11-08 21:11:33 +0000602</ul>
603</div>
604
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000605<!-- ======================================================================= -->
606<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner97beb512007-05-14 06:56:09 +0000607 <a name="c-be">Known problems with the C back-end</a>
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000608</div>
609
610<div class="doc_text">
611
Chris Lattner086d2692010-09-29 05:34:42 +0000612<p>The C backend has numerous problems and is not being actively maintained.
613Depending on it for anything serious is not advised.</p>
614
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000615<ul>
Chris Lattnera1a4c9a2008-06-05 06:35:40 +0000616<li><a href="http://llvm.org/PR802">The C backend has only basic support for
617 inline assembly code</a>.</li>
Chris Lattner8e061162007-09-26 06:01:35 +0000618<li><a href="http://llvm.org/PR1658">The C backend violates the ABI of common
619 C++ programs</a>, preventing intermixing between C++ compiled by the CBE and
Gabor Greif75b2f762009-03-02 12:02:51 +0000620 C++ code compiled with <tt>llc</tt> or native compilers.</li>
Duncan Sandse09506a2008-02-10 13:40:55 +0000621<li>The C backend does not support all exception handling constructs.</li>
Duncan Sands3aa36732009-02-25 11:51:54 +0000622<li>The C backend does not support arbitrary precision integers.</li>
Chris Lattnerb81f10e2006-11-18 07:51:14 +0000623</ul>
624
625</div>
John Criswell3bdbd302005-11-08 21:11:33 +0000626
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000627
628<!-- ======================================================================= -->
629<div class="doc_subsection">
Chris Lattner086d2692010-09-29 05:34:42 +0000630 <a name="llvm-gcc">Known problems with the llvm-gcc front-end</a>
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000631</div>
Chris Lattner178f3db2003-10-02 05:07:23 +0000632
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000633<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattner72a269f2006-03-03 00:34:26 +0000634
Chris Lattner086d2692010-09-29 05:34:42 +0000635<p>llvm-gcc is generally very stable for the C family of languages. The only
636 major language feature of GCC not supported by llvm-gcc is the
637 <tt>__builtin_apply</tt> family of builtins. However, some extensions
638 are only supported on some targets. For example, trampolines are only
639 supported on some targets (these are used when you take the address of a
640 nested function).</p>
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000641
Chris Lattner086d2692010-09-29 05:34:42 +0000642<p>Fortran support generally works, but there are still several unresolved bugs
643 in <a href="http://llvm.org/bugs/">Bugzilla</a>. Please see the
644 tools/gfortran component for details. Note that llvm-gcc is missing major
645 Fortran performance work in the frontend and library that went into GCC after
646 4.2. If you are interested in Fortran, we recommend that you consider using
647 <a href="#dragonegg">dragonegg</a> instead.</p>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000648
Duncan Sandsd63e1c82010-10-04 10:06:56 +0000649<p>The llvm-gcc 4.2 Ada compiler has basic functionality, but is no longer being
650actively maintained. If you are interested in Ada, we recommend that you
651consider using <a href="#dragonegg">dragonegg</a> instead.</p>
Chris Lattnere38ac152008-02-12 06:29:45 +0000652</div>
653
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000654<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000655<div class="doc_section">
656 <a name="additionalinfo">Additional Information</a>
657</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000658<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
659
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000660<div class="doc_text">
661
Chris Lattnercb5596d2005-05-16 17:13:10 +0000662<p>A wide variety of additional information is available on the <a
Chris Lattnere0c1df42007-05-18 00:44:29 +0000663href="http://llvm.org">LLVM web page</a>, in particular in the <a
664href="http://llvm.org/docs/">documentation</a> section. The web page also
Reid Spencerc7f87f22007-07-09 08:04:31 +0000665contains versions of the API documentation which is up-to-date with the
666Subversion version of the source code.
Misha Brukman96158092005-03-30 19:14:24 +0000667You can access versions of these documents specific to this release by going
668into the "<tt>llvm/doc/</tt>" directory in the LLVM tree.</p>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000669
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000670<p>If you have any questions or comments about LLVM, please feel free to contact
Chris Lattnera69595e2005-10-29 07:07:09 +0000671us via the <a href="http://llvm.org/docs/#maillist"> mailing
Chris Lattnerb84f3322003-12-12 21:22:16 +0000672lists</a>.</p>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000673
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000674</div>
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000675
676<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Chris Lattner3d482502003-10-02 04:57:28 +0000677
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000678<hr>
Misha Brukman68aab3b2003-11-22 01:23:39 +0000679<address>
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Misha Brukman68aab3b2003-11-22 01:23:39 +0000684
Chris Lattnere0c1df42007-05-18 00:44:29 +0000685 <a href="http://llvm.org/">LLVM Compiler Infrastructure</a><br>
Misha Brukman80731b92003-11-22 00:38:41 +0000686 Last modified: $Date$
Misha Brukman68aab3b2003-11-22 01:23:39 +0000687</address>
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690</html>