+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_subsection">
+ <a name="llvmcontext">Achieving Isolation with <tt>LLVMContext</tt></a>
+</div>
+
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>
+<tt>LLVMContext</tt> is an opaque class in the LLVM API which clients can use
+to operate multiple, isolated instances of LLVM concurrently within the same
+address space. For instance, in a hypothetical compile-server, the compilation
+of an individual translation unit is conceptually independent from all the
+others, and it would be desirable to be able to compile incoming translation
+units concurrently on independent server threads. Fortunately,
+<tt>LLVMContext</tt> exists to enable just this kind of scenario!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Conceptually, <tt>LLVMContext</tt> provides isolation. Every LLVM entity
+(<tt>Module</tt>s, <tt>Value</tt>s, <tt>Type</tt>s, <tt>Constant</tt>s, etc.)
+in LLVM's in-memory IR belongs to an <tt>LLVMContext</tt>. Entities in
+different contexts <em>cannot</em> interact with each other: <tt>Module</tt>s in
+different contexts cannot be linked together, <tt>Function</tt>s cannot be added
+to <tt>Module</tt>s in different contexts, etc. What this means is that is is
+safe to compile on multiple threads simultaneously, as long as no two threads
+operate on entities within the same context.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In practice, very few places in the API require the explicit specification of a
+<tt>LLVMContext</tt>, other than the <tt>Type</tt> creation/lookup APIs.
+Because every <tt>Type</tt> carries a reference to its owning context, most
+other entities can determine what context they belong to by looking at their
+own <tt>Type</tt>. If you are adding new entities to LLVM IR, please try to
+maintain this interface design.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For clients that do <em>not</em> require the benefits of isolation, LLVM
+provides a convenience API <tt>getGlobalContext()</tt>. This returns a global,
+lazily initialized <tt>LLVMContext</tt> that may be used in situations where
+isolation is not a concern.
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_subsection">
+ <a name="jitthreading">Threads and the JIT</a>
+</div>
+
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>
+LLVM's "eager" JIT compiler is safe to use in threaded programs. Multiple
+threads can call <tt>ExecutionEngine::getPointerToFunction()</tt> or
+<tt>ExecutionEngine::runFunction()</tt> concurrently, and multiple threads can
+run code output by the JIT concurrently. The user must still ensure that only
+one thread accesses IR in a given <tt>LLVMContext</tt> while another thread
+might be modifying it. One way to do that is to always hold the JIT lock while
+accessing IR outside the JIT (the JIT <em>modifies</em> the IR by adding
+<tt>CallbackVH</tt>s). Another way is to only
+call <tt>getPointerToFunction()</tt> from the <tt>LLVMContext</tt>'s thread.
+</p>
+
+<p>When the JIT is configured to compile lazily (using
+<tt>ExecutionEngine::DisableLazyCompilation(false)</tt>), there is currently a
+<a href="http://llvm.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=5184">race condition</a> in
+updating call sites after a function is lazily-jitted. It's still possible to
+use the lazy JIT in a threaded program if you ensure that only one thread at a
+time can call any particular lazy stub and that the JIT lock guards any IR
+access, but we suggest using only the eager JIT in threaded programs.
+</p>
+</div>
+