@@ -16,10 +17,9 @@
Written by the LLVM Team
-This document contains the release notes for the LLVM Compiler -Infrastructure, release 2.8. Here we describe the status of LLVM, including +Infrastructure, release 2.9. Here we describe the status of LLVM, including major improvements from the previous release and significant known problems. All LLVM releases may be downloaded from the LLVM releases web site.
@@ -60,30 +60,23 @@ current one. To see the release notes for a specific release, please see the releases page.-The LLVM 2.8 distribution currently consists of code from the core LLVM +The LLVM 2.9 distribution currently consists of code from the core LLVM repository (which roughly includes the LLVM optimizers, code generators and supporting tools), the Clang repository and the llvm-gcc repository. In addition to this code, the LLVM Project includes other sub-projects that are in @@ -115,12 +108,12 @@ through expressive diagnostics, a high level of conformance to language standards, fast compilation, and low memory use. Like LLVM, Clang provides a modular, library-based architecture that makes it suitable for creating or integrating with other development tools. Clang is considered a -production-quality compiler for C and Objective-C on x86 (32- and 64-bit).
+production-quality compiler for C, Objective-C, C++ and Objective-C++ on x86 +(32- and 64-bit), and for darwin-arm targets. -In the LLVM 2.8 time-frame, the Clang team has made many improvements:
+In the LLVM 2.9 time-frame, the Clang team has made many improvements:
In the LLVM 2.8 time-frame, +
The LLVM 2.9 release...
-The VMKit project is an implementation of -a JVM and a CLI Virtual Machine (Microsoft .NET is an -implementation of the CLI) using LLVM for static and just-in-time -compilation.
+DragonEgg is a port of llvm-gcc to +gcc-4.5. Unlike llvm-gcc, dragonegg in theory does not require any gcc-4.5 +modifications whatsoever (currently one small patch is needed) thanks to the +new gcc plugin architecture. +DragonEgg is a gcc plugin that makes gcc-4.5 use the LLVM optimizers and code +generators instead of gcc's, just like with llvm-gcc. + -With the release of LLVM 2.8, ...
++DragonEgg is still a work in progress, but it is able to compile a lot of code, +for example all of gcc, LLVM and clang. Currently Ada, C, C++ and Fortran work +well, while all other languages either don't work at all or only work poorly. +For the moment only the x86-32 and x86-64 targets are supported, and only on +linux and darwin (darwin may need additional gcc patches). +
+ ++The 2.9 release has the following notable changes: +
+The VMKit project is an implementation of +a Java Virtual Machine (Java VM or JVM) that uses LLVM for static and +just-in-time compilation. + +UPDATE. +
+All of the code in the compiler-rt project is available under the standard LLVM -License, a "BSD-style" license. New in LLVM 2.8: +License, a "BSD-style" license. -Soft float support -
+NEW: MIT License as well. + +New in LLVM 2.9, UPDATE-DragonEgg is a port of llvm-gcc to -gcc-4.5. Unlike llvm-gcc, which makes many intrusive changes to the underlying -gcc-4.2 code, dragonegg in theory does not require any gcc-4.5 modifications -whatsoever (currently one small patch is needed). This is thanks to the new -gcc plugin architecture, which -makes it possible to modify the behaviour of gcc at runtime by loading a plugin, -which is nothing more than a dynamic library which conforms to the gcc plugin -interface. DragonEgg is a gcc plugin that causes the LLVM optimizers to be run -instead of the gcc optimizers, and the LLVM code generators instead of the gcc -code generators, just like llvm-gcc. To use it, you add -"-fplugin=path/dragonegg.so" to the gcc-4.5 command line, and gcc-4.5 magically -becomes llvm-gcc-4.5! -
+LLDB is a brand new member of the LLVM +umbrella of projects. LLDB is a next generation, high-performance debugger. It +is built as a set of reusable components which highly leverage existing +libraries in the larger LLVM Project, such as the Clang expression parser, the +LLVM disassembler and the LLVM JIT.-DragonEgg is still a work in progress. Currently C works very well, while C++, -Ada and Fortran work fairly well. All other languages either don't work at all, -or only work poorly. For the moment only the x86-32 and x86-64 targets are -supported, and only on linux and darwin (darwin needs an additional gcc patch). +LLDB is in early development and not included as part of the LLVM 2.9 release, +UPDATE! + +
+-2.8 status here. +libc++ is another new member of the LLVM +family. It is an implementation of the C++ standard library, written from the +ground up to specifically target the forthcoming C++'0X standard and focus on +delivering great performance.
+ ++As of the LLVM 2.9 release, UPDATE! + +
-The LLVM Machine Code (aka MC) sub-project of LLVM was created to solve a number -of problems in the realm of assembly, disassembly, object file format handling, -and a number of other related areas that CPU instruction-set level tools work -in. It is a sub-project of LLVM which provides it with a number of advantages -over other compilers that do not have tightly integrated assembly-level tools. -For a gentle introduction, please see the Intro to the -LLVM MC Project Blog Post. +KLEE is a symbolic execution framework for +programs in LLVM bitcode form. KLEE tries to symbolically evaluate "all" paths +through the application and records state transitions that lead to fault +states. This allows it to construct testcases that lead to faults and can even +be used to verify some algorithms.
-2.8 status here
-UPDATE!
+ + @@ -251,13 +287,15 @@ LLVM MC Project Blog Post.An exciting aspect of LLVM is that it is used as an enabling technology for a lot of other language and tools projects. This section lists some of the - projects that have already been updated to work with LLVM 2.8.
+ projects that have already been updated to work with LLVM 2.9. + + @@ -270,21 +308,6 @@ in this section. - - - -In addition to changes to the code, between LLVM 2.7 and 2.8, a number of -organization changes have happened: -
- -LLVM 2.8 includes several major new capabilities:
+LLVM 2.9 includes several major new capabilities:
+The LLVM Machine Code (aka MC) subsystem was created to solve a number +of problems in the realm of assembly, disassembly, object file format handling, +and a number of other related areas that CPU instruction-set level tools work +in.
For more information, please see the Intro to the +LLVM MC Project Blog Post. +
+ + +New features of the X86 target include: +
New features and major changes in the X86 target include:
This release includes a number of new APIs that are used internally, which - may also be useful for external clients. -
- -Other miscellaneous features include:
- -If you're already an LLVM user or developer with out-of-tree changes based -on LLVM 2.7, this section lists some "gotchas" that you may run into upgrading +on LLVM 2.8, this section lists some "gotchas" that you may run into upgrading from the previous release.
In addition, many APIs have changed in this release. Some of the major LLVM API changes are:
-LLVM is known to work on the following platforms:
+This section lists changes to the LLVM development infrastructure. This +mostly impacts users who actively work on LLVM or follow development on +mainline, but may also impact users who leverage the LLVM build infrastructure +or are interested in LLVM qualification.
The core LLVM infrastructure uses GNU autoconf to adapt itself -to the machine and operating system on which it is built. However, minor -porting may be required to get LLVM to work on new platforms. We welcome your -portability patches and reports of successful builds or error messages.
-The C backend has numerous problems and is not being actively maintained. +Depending on it for anything serious is not advised.
+The only major language feature of GCC not supported by llvm-gcc is - the __builtin_apply family of builtins. However, some extensions - are only supported on some targets. For example, trampolines are only - supported on some targets (these are used when you take the address of a - nested function).
+llvm-gcc is generally very stable for the C family of languages. The only + major language feature of GCC not supported by llvm-gcc is the + __builtin_apply family of builtins. However, some extensions + are only supported on some targets. For example, trampolines are only + supported on some targets (these are used when you take the address of a + nested function).
-Fortran support generally works, but there are still several unresolved bugs + in Bugzilla. Please see the + tools/gfortran component for details. Note that llvm-gcc is missing major + Fortran performance work in the frontend and library that went into GCC after + 4.2. If you are interested in Fortran, we recommend that you consider using + dragonegg instead.
-The llvm-gcc 4.2 Ada compiler has basic functionality, but is no longer being +actively maintained. If you are interested in Ada, we recommend that you +consider using dragonegg instead.