LLVM Techniques, Tips, and Best Practices Clang and Middle-End Libraries

About this book

Every programmer or engineer, at some point in their career, works with compilers to optimize their applications. Compilers convert a high-level programming language into low-level machine-executable code. LLVM provides the infrastructure, reusable libraries, and tools needed for developers to build their own compilers. With LLVM’s extensive set of tooling, you can effectively generate code for different backends as well as optimize them.

In this book, you’ll explore the LLVM compiler infrastructure and understand how to use it to solve different problems. You’ll start by looking at the structure and design philosophy of important components of LLVM and gradually move on to using Clang libraries to build tools that help you analyze high-level source code. As you advance, the book will show you how to process LLVM IR – a powerful way to transform and optimize the source program for various purposes. Equipped with this knowledge, you’ll be able to leverage LLVM and Clang to create a wide range of useful programming language tools, including compilers, interpreters, IDEs, and source code analyzers.

By the end of this LLVM book, you’ll have developed the skills to create powerful tools using the LLVM framework to overcome different real-world challenges.

Min-Yih Hsu

Min-Yih "Min" Hsu is a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on compiler engineering, code optimization, advanced hardware architectures, and system security. He has been an active member of the LLVM community since 2015 and has contributed numerous patches upstream. Min also dedicates his time to advocating LLVM and compiler engineering through various avenues, such as writing blog posts and giving talks at conferences. In his spare time, Min likes to explore a variety of different coffee beans and ways of brewing.