[M3devel] cm3 llvm backend?

[Jay K]

redirecting...

> Olaf
> LLVM didn't seem to satisfy M3's needs, however, if I understood Rodney's laments correctl


I would like to take this up, maybe soon.


I do have a bit of an agenda.
Maybe my priorities are mixed up.


 1 Provide a very portable system. 
 2 Provide an easy to install and use system. 
 3 Switch from gcc backend to LLVM backend, at least optionally (i.e. at least
   for their supported backends).
 4 Maybe write our own backends. 


Where is the LLVM support at?
Mostly working? Barely working?


I know LLVM is big and changing, and maybe they don't value
compatibility of bitcode.


But look at what we have with the gcc backend.
Even if we didn't have to patch it at all, I expect
we'd still have to keep and build a local copy.

Perhaps we should just do that?

With LLVM, with its different licensing, perhaps we could
get our "frontend" merged upstream, but this would
then give us a compatibility burden in the persisted m3cg.
Is that ok?
It is hypothetical at this point.


I know everyone here doesn't really like C/C++ (except me).
And, more significantly, I know the system written in itself
is a great test case, but I wonder if we shouldn't write a new
"real" frontend in C or C++, and see if we can't merge that
upstream with gcc and/or clang.


It also worth mentioning that I believe gcc's Ada front end
is written in Ada -- you don't actually have to write
the frontend in C/C++ to merge upstream.

But there might remain licensing concern.



 - Jay

 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://m3lists.elegosoft.com/pipermail/m3devel/attachments/20160627/32a23aac/attachment-0003.html>