6 If you are using a released version of LLVM, see `the download page
7 <http://llvm.org/releases/>`_ to find your documentation.
9 The LLVM compiler infrastructure supports a wide range of projects, from
10 industrial strength compilers to specialized JIT applications to small
13 Similarly, documentation is broken down into several high-level groupings
14 targeted at different audiences:
16 LLVM Design & Overview
17 ======================
19 Several introductory papers and presentations.
27 Defines the LLVM intermediate representation.
29 `Introduction to the LLVM Compiler`__
30 Presentation providing a users introduction to LLVM.
32 .. __: http://llvm.org/pubs/2008-10-04-ACAT-LLVM-Intro.html
35 Book chapter providing a compiler hacker's introduction to LLVM.
37 .. __: http://www.aosabook.org/en/llvm.html
40 `LLVM: A Compilation Framework for Lifelong Program Analysis & Transformation`__
43 .. __: http://llvm.org/pubs/2004-01-30-CGO-LLVM.html
45 `LLVM: An Infrastructure for Multi-Stage Optimization`__
46 More details (quite old now).
48 .. __: http://llvm.org/pubs/2002-12-LattnerMSThesis.html
50 `Publications mentioning LLVM <http://llvm.org/pubs>`_
56 For those new to the LLVM system.
58 NOTE: If you are a user who is only interested in using LLVM-based
59 compilers, you should look into `Clang <http://clang.llvm.org>`_ or
60 `DragonEgg <http://dragonegg.llvm.org>`_ instead. The documentation here is
61 intended for users who have a need to work with the intermediate LLVM
73 BuildingLLVMWithAutotools
79 SphinxQuickstartTemplate
87 Frontend/PerformanceTips
88 MCJITDesignAndImplementation
91 Discusses how to get up and running quickly with the LLVM infrastructure.
92 Everything from unpacking and compilation of the distribution to execution
96 An addendum to the main Getting Started guide for those using the `CMake
97 build system <http://www.cmake.org>`_.
99 :doc:`HowToBuildOnARM`
100 Notes on building and testing LLVM/Clang on ARM.
102 :doc:`HowToCrossCompileLLVM`
103 Notes on cross-building and testing LLVM/Clang.
105 :doc:`GettingStartedVS`
106 An addendum to the main Getting Started guide for those using Visual Studio
109 :doc:`BuildingLLVMWithAutotools`
110 An addendum to the Getting Started guide with instructions for building LLVM
111 with the Autotools build system.
113 :doc:`tutorial/index`
114 Tutorials about using LLVM. Includes a tutorial about making a custom
117 :doc:`LLVM Command Guide <CommandGuide/index>`
118 A reference manual for the LLVM command line utilities ("man" pages for LLVM
122 A list of optimizations and analyses implemented in LLVM.
125 A list of common questions and problems and their solutions.
127 :doc:`Release notes for the current release <ReleaseNotes>`
128 This describes new features, known bugs, and other limitations.
130 :doc:`HowToSubmitABug`
131 Instructions for properly submitting information about any bugs you run into
134 :doc:`SphinxQuickstartTemplate`
135 A template + tutorial for writing new Sphinx documentation. It is meant
136 to be read in source form.
138 :doc:`LLVM Testing Infrastructure Guide <TestingGuide>`
139 A reference manual for using the LLVM testing infrastructure.
141 `How to build the C, C++, ObjC, and ObjC++ front end`__
142 Instructions for building the clang front-end from source.
144 .. __: http://clang.llvm.org/get_started.html
147 Definition of acronyms, terms and concepts used in LLVM.
149 :doc:`HowToAddABuilder`
150 Instructions for adding new builder to LLVM buildbot master.
153 A reference guide for using LLVM's YAML I/O library.
156 Answers to some very frequent questions about LLVM's most frequently
157 misunderstood instruction.
159 :doc:`Frontend/PerformanceTips`
160 A collection of tips for frontend authors on how to generate IR
161 which LLVM is able to effectively optimize.
164 Programming Documentation
165 =========================
167 For developers of applications which use LLVM as a library.
177 HowToSetUpLLVMStyleRTTI
181 :doc:`LLVM Language Reference Manual <LangRef>`
182 Defines the LLVM intermediate representation and the assembly form of the
186 Information about LLVM's concurrency model.
188 :doc:`ProgrammersManual`
189 Introduction to the general layout of the LLVM sourcebase, important classes
190 and APIs, and some tips & tricks.
193 LLVM-specific extensions to tools and formats LLVM seeks compatibility with.
196 Provides information on using the command line parsing library.
198 :doc:`CodingStandards`
199 Details the LLVM coding standards and provides useful information on writing
202 :doc:`HowToSetUpLLVMStyleRTTI`
203 How to make ``isa<>``, ``dyn_cast<>``, etc. available for clients of your
207 Look here to see how to add instructions and intrinsics to LLVM.
209 `Doxygen generated documentation <http://llvm.org/doxygen/>`_
210 (`classes <http://llvm.org/doxygen/inherits.html>`_)
211 (`tarball <http://llvm.org/doxygen/doxygen.tar.gz>`_)
213 `Documentation for Go bindings <http://godoc.org/llvm.org/llvm/bindings/go/llvm>`_
215 `ViewVC Repository Browser <http://llvm.org/viewvc/>`_
218 :doc:`CompilerWriterInfo`
219 A list of helpful links for compiler writers.
221 Subsystem Documentation
222 =======================
224 For API clients and LLVM developers.
231 BlockFrequencyTerminology
255 CoverageMappingFormat
260 :doc:`WritingAnLLVMPass`
261 Information on how to write LLVM transformations and analyses.
263 :doc:`WritingAnLLVMBackend`
264 Information on how to write LLVM backends for machine targets.
267 The design and implementation of the LLVM code generator. Useful if you are
268 working on retargetting LLVM to a new architecture, designing a new codegen
269 pass, or enhancing existing components.
271 :doc:`TableGen <TableGen/index>`
272 Describes the TableGen tool, which is used heavily by the LLVM code
276 Information on how to write a new alias analysis implementation or how to
277 use existing analyses.
279 :doc:`GarbageCollection`
280 The interfaces source-language compilers should use for compiling GC'd
283 :doc:`Source Level Debugging with LLVM <SourceLevelDebugging>`
284 This document describes the design and philosophy behind the LLVM
285 source-level debugger.
288 This document describes the current status of vectorization in LLVM.
290 :doc:`ExceptionHandling`
291 This document describes the design and implementation of exception handling
295 Automatic bug finder and test-case reducer description and usage
299 This describes the file format and encoding used for LLVM "bc" files.
301 :doc:`System Library <SystemLibrary>`
302 This document describes the LLVM System Library (``lib/System``) and
303 how to keep LLVM source code portable
305 :doc:`LinkTimeOptimization`
306 This document describes the interface between LLVM intermodular optimizer
307 and the linker and its design
310 How to build your programs with link-time optimization on Linux.
312 :doc:`DebuggingJITedCode`
313 How to debug JITed code with GDB.
315 :doc:`MCJITDesignAndImplementation`
316 Describes the inner workings of MCJIT execution engine.
318 :doc:`BranchWeightMetadata`
319 Provides information about Branch Prediction Information.
321 :doc:`BlockFrequencyTerminology`
322 Provides information about terminology used in the ``BlockFrequencyInfo``
325 :doc:`SegmentedStacks`
326 This document describes segmented stacks and how they are used in LLVM.
328 :doc:`MarkedUpDisassembly`
329 This document describes the optional rich disassembly output syntax.
331 :doc:`HowToUseAttributes`
332 Answers some questions about the new Attributes infrastructure.
335 This document describes using the NVPTX back-end to compile GPU kernels.
338 This document describes how to use the R600 back-end.
341 LLVM support for mapping instruction addresses to the location of
342 values and allowing code to be patched.
345 LLVM's support for generating NEON instructions on big endian ARM targets is
346 somewhat nonintuitive. This document explains the implementation and rationale.
348 :doc:`CoverageMappingFormat`
349 This describes the format and encoding used for LLVM’s code coverage mapping.
352 This describes a set of experimental extensions for garbage
355 :doc:`MergeFunctions`
356 Describes functions merging optimization.
359 Description of the ``inalloca`` argument attribute.
361 Development Process Documentation
362 =================================
364 Information about LLVM's development process.
378 :doc:`DeveloperPolicy`
379 The LLVM project's policy towards developers and their contributions.
382 How-to guide and templates for new projects that *use* the LLVM
383 infrastructure. The templates (directory organization, Makefiles, and test
384 tree) allow the project code to be located outside (or inside) the ``llvm/``
385 tree, while using LLVM header files and libraries.
388 Describes the LLVMBuild organization and files used by LLVM to specify
389 component descriptions.
392 Describes how the LLVM makefiles work and how to use them.
394 :doc:`HowToReleaseLLVM`
395 This is a guide to preparing LLVM releases. Most developers can ignore it.
397 :doc:`ReleaseProcess`
398 This is a guide to validate a new release, during the release process. Most developers can ignore it.
401 Advice on packaging LLVM into a distribution.
404 Describes how to use the Phabricator code review tool hosted on
405 http://reviews.llvm.org/ and its command line interface, Arcanist.
410 LLVM has a thriving community of friendly and helpful developers.
411 The two primary communication mechanisms in the LLVM community are mailing
417 If you can't find what you need in these docs, try consulting the mailing
420 `Developer's List (llvmdev)`__
421 This list is for people who want to be included in technical discussions of
422 LLVM. People post to this list when they have questions about writing code
423 for or using the LLVM tools. It is relatively low volume.
425 .. __: http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev
427 `Commits Archive (llvm-commits)`__
428 This list contains all commit messages that are made when LLVM developers
429 commit code changes to the repository. It also serves as a forum for
430 patch review (i.e. send patches here). It is useful for those who want to
431 stay on the bleeding edge of LLVM development. This list is very high
434 .. __: http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/llvm-commits/
436 `Bugs & Patches Archive (llvmbugs)`__
437 This list gets emailed every time a bug is opened and closed. It is
438 higher volume than the LLVMdev list.
440 .. __: http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/llvmbugs/
442 `Test Results Archive (llvm-testresults)`__
443 A message is automatically sent to this list by every active nightly tester
444 when it completes. As such, this list gets email several times each day,
445 making it a high volume list.
447 .. __: http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/llvm-testresults/
449 `LLVM Announcements List (llvm-announce)`__
450 This is a low volume list that provides important announcements regarding
451 LLVM. It gets email about once a month.
453 .. __: http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvm-announce
458 Users and developers of the LLVM project (including subprojects such as Clang)
459 can be found in #llvm on `irc.oftc.net <irc://irc.oftc.net/llvm>`_.
461 This channel has several bots.
465 * llvmbb - Bot for the main LLVM buildbot master.
466 http://lab.llvm.org:8011/console
467 * bb-chapuni - An individually run buildbot master. http://bb.pgr.jp/console
468 * smooshlab - Apple's internal buildbot master.
470 * robot - Bugzilla linker. %bug <number>
472 * clang-bot - A `geordi <http://www.eelis.net/geordi/>`_ instance running
473 near-trunk clang instead of gcc.