Introducing toolchains
A toolchain is a set of tools that compiles source code into executables that can run on your target device. It includes a compiler, a linker, and runtime libraries. You need a toolchain to build the other three elements of an embedded Linux system:
- Bootloader
- Kernel
- Root filesystem
It has to be able to compile code written in C, C++, and an assembly language since these are the languages used in the base open source packages.
Usually, toolchains for Linux are based on components from the GNU project and that is still true at the time of writing. However, over the past few years, the Clang compiler and the associated Low-Level Virtual Machine (LLVM) project have progressed to the point that LLVM is now a viable alternative to a GNU toolchain. One major distinction between LLVM and GNU-based toolchains is the licensing; LLVM has the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions while GNU has the GPL.
There are some technical...
