You're reading from LLVM Code Generation A deep dive into compiler backend development

Product type Paperback

Published in May 2025

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781837637782

Length 620 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Languages

C++

Tools

LLVM

Concepts

Programming Language

Author (1):

Quentin Colombet

View More author details

Table of Contents (30) Chapters

Preface

1. Part 1: Getting Started with LLVM

2. Building LLVM and Understanding the Directory Structure FREE CHAPTER

3. Contributing to LLVM

4. Compiler Basics and How They Map to LLVM APIs

5. Writing Your First Optimization

6. Dealing with Pass Managers

7. TableGen – LLVM Swiss Army Knife for Modeling

8. Part 2: Middle-End: LLVM IR to LLVM IR

9. Understanding LLVM IR

10. Survey of the Existing Passes

11. Introducing Target-Specific Constructs

12. Hands-On Debugging LLVM IR Passes

13. Part 3: Introduction to the Backend

14. Getting Started with the Backend

15. Getting Started with the Machine Code Layer

16. The Machine Pass Pipeline

17. Part 4: LLVM IR to Machine IR

18. Getting Started with Instruction Selection

19. Instruction Selection: The IR Building Phase

20. Instruction Selection: The Legalization Phase

21. Instruction Selection: The Selection Phase and Beyond

22. Part 5: Final Lowering and Optimizations

23. Instruction Scheduling

24. Register Allocation

25. Lowering of the Stack Layout

26. Getting Started with the Assembler

27. Unlock Your Book’s Exclusive Benefits

28. Other Books You May Enjoy

29. Index

Summary

In this final chapter, you discovered how textual assembly files are lowered into object files and learned how to leverage the LLVM infrastructure to implement this lowering.

More specifically, you learned that the LLVM infrastructure hinges on three classes that you must provide for your target: MCAsmBackend, MCCodeEmitter, and MCObjectTargetWriter. These classes are respectively responsible for handling the fixups, encoding the instructions, and recording the relocations.

While the content of this chapter will not be enough for you to confidently write an assembler, we believe it gives you the necessary background to get you started in your journey as a binary tools writer.

We hope you enjoyed learning with us and wish you good luck in your compiler backend journey or whatever LLVM-related activities you decide to pursue, such as writing your own tools, improving an existing backend, or writing your own backend, to mention a few!