Features.html

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<div class="www_sectiontitle">LLVM Features</div>

<p>The <a href="releases/">LLVM compiler system</a> for C and C++ includes the
following:</p>

<ul>
  <li>Front-ends for C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, etc.
  They support the ANSI-standard C and C++ languages.
  Additionally, many GCC extensions are supported.</li>

  <li>A stable implementation of the LLVM instruction set, which serves
  as both the online and offline code representation, together with assembly
  (ASCII) and bytecode (binary) readers and writers, and a verifier.</li>

  <li>A powerful pass-management system that automatically sequences passes
  (including analysis, transformation, and code-generation passes) based on
  their dependences, and pipelines them for efficiency.</li>

  <li>A wide range of global scalar optimizations.</li>

  <li>A link-time interprocedural optimization framework with a rich set of
  analyses and transformations, including sophisticated whole-program pointer
  analysis, call graph construction, and support for profile-guided
  optimizations.</li>

  <li>An easily retargetable code generator, which currently supports X86,
      X86-64, PowerPC, PowerPC-64, ARM, Thumb, SPARC, Alpha, CellSPU,
      MIPS, MSP430, SystemZ, WebAssembly and XCore.</li>

  <li>A Just-In-Time (JIT) code generation system, which currently supports
  X86, X86-64, ARM, AArch64, Mips, SystemZ, PowerPC, and PowerPC-64.</li>

  <li>Support for generating DWARF debugging information.</li>

  <li>A profiling system similar to gprof.</li>

  <li>A test framework with a number of benchmark codes and applications.</li>

  <li>APIs and debugging tools to simplify rapid development of LLVM
  components.</li>
</ul>

<div class="www_sectiontitle">Strengths of the LLVM System</div>

<div class="www_text">

<ol>
  <li>LLVM uses a simple <a href="docs/LangRef.html">low-level language</a> with
  strictly defined semantics.</li>

  <li>It includes front-ends for <a
  href="docs/CommandGuide/html/llvmgcc.html">C</a> and
  <a href="docs/CommandGuide/html/llvmgxx.html">C++</a>.  Front-ends for
  Java, Scheme, and other languages are in development.</li>

  <li>It includes an aggressive optimizer, including scalar, interprocedural,
   profile-driven, and some simple loop optimizations.</li>

  <li>It supports a <a
  href="/pubs/2004-01-30-CGO-LLVM.html">life-long
  compilation model</a>, including link-time, install-time, run-time, and
  offline optimization.</li>

  <li>LLVM has full support for <a href="docs/GarbageCollection.html">accurate
  garbage collection</a>.</li>

  <li>The LLVM code generator is relatively easy to retarget, and makes use of
      a powerful target description language.</li>

  <li>LLVM has extensive <a href="docs/">documentation</a> and has
  hosted many <a href="ProjectsWithLLVM/">projects</a> of various sorts.</li>

  <li>Many third-party users have claimed that LLVM is easy to work with and
  develop for.  For example, the (now removed) Stacker front-end was written
  in 4 days by someone who started knowing nothing about LLVM.  Additionally,
  LLVM has tools to make
  <a href="docs/Bugpoint.html">development easier</a>.</li>

  <li>LLVM is under active development and is constantly being extended,
  enhanced and improved.  See the status updates on the left bar to see the rate
  of development.</li>

  <li>LLVM is freely available under an OSI-approved "Apache License Version 2.0" license.</li>

  <li>LLVM is currently used by many commercial, non-profit or academic entities, who contribute
      many extensions and new features.</li>
</ol>

</div>

<div class="www_sectiontitle">LLVM Audience</div>

<p>LLVM can be used in many different kinds of projects.  You might be
interested in LLVM if you are:</p>

<ul>
  <li>A compiler researcher interested in compile-time, link-time
  (interprocedural), and runtime transformations for C and C++ programs.</li>

  <li>A virtual machine researcher/developer interested in a portable,
  language-independent instruction set and compilation framework.</li>

  <li>An architecture researcher interested in compiler/hardware
  techniques.</li>

  <li>A security researcher interested in static analysis or
  instrumentation.</li>

  <li>An instructor or developer interested in a system for quick prototyping of
  compiler transformations.</li>

  <li>An end-user who wants to get better performance out of your code.</li>
</ul>

<div class="www_sectiontitle">Want to Know More?</div>

<p>
You can <a href="docs/">browse the documentation online</a>,
try <a href="/demo/index.cgi">LLVM in your web browser</a>,  or
<a href="/releases/index.html">download the source code.</a>
</p>

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