X-Git-Url: http://demsky.eecs.uci.edu/git/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=docs%2FFAQ.html;h=95e425aac66990b875816ccc83b62839966481d3;hb=befc9c16fae1719cafe9f54ab2b67219db44dc11;hp=bf4a47d21066584c91b9f981067e885e7f23ac23;hpb=1739aec9e174e4a4f3a162ccbe4137d74ebc1d0d;p=oota-llvm.git diff --git a/docs/FAQ.html b/docs/FAQ.html index bf4a47d2106..95e425aac66 100644 --- a/docs/FAQ.html +++ b/docs/FAQ.html @@ -36,12 +36,11 @@
Yes. The modified source distribution must retain the copyright notice and follow the three bulletted conditions listed in the LLVM license.
+href="http://llvm.org/releases/1.3/LICENSE.TXT">LLVM license.Some porting problems may exist in the following areas:
I compile the code, and I get some error about /localhome.
-There are several possible causes for this. The first is that you didn't set -a pathname properly when using configure, and it defaulted to a -pathname that we use on our research machines.
- -Another possibility is that we hardcoded a path in our Makefiles. If you see -this, please email the LLVM bug mailing list with the name of the offending -Makefile and a description of what is wrong with it.
- -The configure script finds the right C compiler, but it uses the LLVM linker from a previous build. What do I do?
@@ -229,21 +226,23 @@ if it's grabbing the wrong linker/assembler/etc, there are two ways to fix it:Adjust your PATH environment variable so that the correct - program appears first in the PATH. This may work, but may not be - convenient when you want them first in your path for other - work.
Run configure with an alternative PATH that is - correct. In a Borne compatible shell, the syntax would be:
- -PATH=[the path without the bad program] ./configure ...
+ correct. In a Borne compatible shell, the syntax would be: + ++% PATH=[the path without the bad program] ./configure ... ++
This is still somewhat inconvenient, but it allows configure - to do its work without having to adjust your PATH - permanently.
I've updated my source tree from CVS, and now my build is trying to use a -file/directory that doesn't exist.
+I've updated my source tree from Subversion, and now my build is trying to +use a file/directory that doesn't exist.
If the Makefile already exists in your object tree, you can just run the following command in the top level directory of your object tree:
-./config.status <relative path to Makefile>
+
% ./config.status <relative path to Makefile>+
If the Makefile is new, you will have to modify the configure script to copy it over.
@@ -315,11 +315,18 @@ clean and then make in the directory that fails to build.For example, if you built LLVM with the command:
-gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1 +
% gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1+
...then you must run the tests with the following commands:
-cd llvm/test
gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1
+% cd llvm/test +% gmake ENABLE_PROFILING=1 ++
This is a bug in GCC, and - affects projects other than LLVM. Try upgrading or downgrading your GCC.
--When I use the test suite, all of the C Backend tests fail. What is -wrong? -
--If you build LLVM and the C Backend tests fail in llvm/test/Programs, -then chances are good that the directory pointed to by the LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH -environment variable does not contain the libcrtend.a library. -
- --To fix it, verify that LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH points to the correct directory -and that libcrtend.a is inside. For pre-built LLVM GCC front ends, this -should be the absolute path to -cfrontend/<platform>/llvm-gcc/bytecode-libs. If you've -built your own LLVM GCC front end, then ensure that you've built and installed -the libraries in llvm/runtime and have LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH pointing -to the LLVMGCCDIR/bytecode-libs subdirectory. -
+affects projects other than LLVM. Try upgrading or downgrading your GCC.After CVS update, rebuilding gives the error "No rule to make target".
+After Subversion update, rebuilding gives the error "No rule to make +target".
If the error is of the form:
gmake[2]: *** No rule to make target `/path/to/somefile', needed by `/path/to/another/file.d'.+
Stop. -
This may occur anytime files are moved within the CVS repository or removed -entirely. In this case, the best solution is to erase all .d files, -which list dependencies for source files, and rebuild:
+This may occur anytime files are moved within the Subversion repository or +removed entirely. In this case, the best solution is to erase all +.d files, which list dependencies for source files, and rebuild:
@@ -406,6 +389,107 @@ which list dependencies for source files, and rebuild: rebuilding.
llvmc is experimental and isn't really supported. We suggest +using llvm-gcc instead.
+LLVM currently has full support for C and C++ source languages. These are + available through a special version of GCC that LLVM calls the + C Front End
+There is an incomplete version of a Java front end available in the + java module. There is no documentation on this yet so + you'll need to download the code, compile it, and try it.
+In the stacker module is a compiler and runtime + library for the Stacker language, a "toy" language loosely based on Forth.
+The PyPy developers are working on integrating LLVM into the PyPy backend + so that PyPy language can translate to LLVM.
+Your compiler front-end will communicate with LLVM by creating a module in + the LLVM intermediate representation (IR) format. Assuming you want to + write your language's compiler in the language itself (rather than C++), + there are 3 major ways to tackle generating LLVM IR from a front-end:
+If you go with the first option, the C bindings in include/llvm-c should + help a lot, since most languages have strong support for interfacing with + C. The most common hurdle with calling C from managed code is interfacing + with the garbage collector. The C interface was designed to require very + little memory management, and so is straightforward in this regard.
+Currently, there isn't much. LLVM supports an intermediate representation + which is useful for code representation but will not support the high level + (abstract syntax tree) representation needed by most compilers. There are no + facilities for lexical nor semantic analysis. There is, however, a mostly + implemented configuration-driven + compiler driver which simplifies the task + of running optimizations, linking, and executable generation.
+To work around this, perform the following steps:
--This will allow the gccld linker to create a native code executable instead of -a shell script that runs the JIT. Creating native code requires standard -linkage, which in turn will allow the configure script to find out if code is -not linking on your system because the feature isn't available on your system. -
+This will allow the llvm-ld linker to create a native code executable +instead of shell script that runs the JIT. Creating native code requires +standard linkage, which in turn will allow the configure script to find out if +code is not linking on your system because the feature isn't available on your +system.-In order to find libcrtend.a, you must have the directory in which it lives in -your LLVM_LIB_SEARCH_PATH environment variable. For the binary distribution of -the LLVM GCC front end, this will be the full path of the bytecode-libs -directory inside of the LLVM GCC distribution. +The only way this can happen is if you haven't installed the runtime library. To +correct this, do:
+ ++% cd llvm/runtime +% make clean ; make install-bytecode ++
+How can I disable all optimizations when compiling code using the LLVM GCC front end?
+Passing "-Wa,-disable-opt -Wl,-disable-opt" will disable *all* cleanup and +optimizations done at the llvm level, leaving you with the truly horrible +code that you desire. +
+Yes, you can use LLVM to convert code from any language LLVM supports to C. +Note that the generated C code will be very low level (all loops are lowered +to gotos, etc) and not very pretty (comments are stripped, original source +formatting is totally lost, variables are renamed, expressions are regrouped), +so this may not be what you're looking for. However, this is a good way to add +C++ support for a processor that does not otherwise have a C++ compiler. +
+ +Use commands like this:
+ +Compile your program as normal with llvm-g++:
+ ++% llvm-g++ x.cpp -o program ++
or:
+ ++% llvm-g++ a.cpp -c +% llvm-g++ b.cpp -c +% llvm-g++ a.o b.o -o program ++
With llvm-gcc3, this will generate program and program.bc. The .bc + file is the LLVM version of the program all linked together.
Convert the LLVM code to C code, using the LLC tool with the C + backend:
+ ++% llc -march=c program.bc -o program.c ++
Finally, compile the C file:
+ ++% cc x.c ++
Note that, by default, the C backend does not support exception handling. If +you want/need it for a certain program, you can enable it by passing +"-enable-correct-eh-support" to the llc program. The resultant code will use +setjmp/longjmp to implement exception support that is correct but relatively +slow.
+ +Also note: this specific sequence of commands won't work if you use a +function defined in the C++ runtime library (or any other C++ library). To +access an external C++ library, you must manually compile libstdc++ to LLVM +bitcode, statically link it into your program, then use the commands above to +convert the whole result into C code. Alternatively, you can compile the +libraries and your application into two different chunks of C code and link +them.
+ +-What is this __main() call that gets inserted into main()? -
What is this llvm.global_ctors and +_GLOBAL__I__tmp_webcompile... stuff that happens when I #include +<iostream>?
+-The __main call is inserted by the C/C++ compiler in order to guarantee -that static constructors and destructors are called when the program starts up -and shuts down. In C, you can create static constructors and destructors by -using GCC extensions, and in C++ you can do so by creating a global variable -whose class has a ctor or dtor. -
--The actual implementation of __main lives in the -llvm/runtime/GCCLibraries/crtend/ directory in the source-base, and is -linked in automatically when you link the program. +
If you #include the <iostream> header into a C++ translation unit, the +file will probably use the std::cin/std::cout/... global +objects. However, C++ does not guarantee an order of initialization between +static objects in different translation units, so if a static ctor/dtor in your +.cpp file used std::cout, for example, the object would not necessarily +be automatically initialized before your use.
+ +To make std::cout and friends work correctly in these scenarios, the +STL that we use declares a static object that gets created in every translation +unit that includes <iostream>. This object has a static +constructor and destructor that initializes and destroys the global iostream +objects before they could possibly be used in the file. The code that you see +in the .ll file corresponds to the constructor and destructor registration code.
+ +If you would like to make it easier to understand the LLVM code +generated by the compiler in the demo page, consider using printf() +instead of iostreams to print values.
+-What is this llvm.global_ctors and _GLOBAL__I__tmp_webcompile... stuff that happens when I #include <iostream>? + +
What is this "undef" thing that shows up in my code?
-If you #include the <iostream> header into a C++ translation unit, the -file will probably use the std::cin/std::cout/... global -objects. However, C++ does not guarantee an order of initialization between -static objects in different translation units, so if a static ctor/dtor in your -.cpp file used std::cout, for example, the object would not necessarily -be automatically initialized before your use. -
+undef is the LLVM way of representing +a value that is not defined. You can get these if you do not initialize a +variable before you use it. For example, the C function: --To make std::cout and friends work correctly in these scenarios, the -STL that we use declares a static object that gets created in every translation -unit that includes <iostream>. This object has a static constructor and -destructor that initializes and destroys the global iostream objects before they -could possibly be used in the file. The code that you see in the .ll file -corresponds to the constructor and destructor registration code. -
++int X() { int i; return i; } ++
-If you would like to make it easier to understand the LLVM code generated -by the compiler in the demo page, consider using printf instead of iostreams to -print values. -
+Is compiled to "ret i32 undef" because "i" never has +a value specified for it.