[LLVMdev] Architecture Dependency of LLVM bitcode (was Re: compile linux kernel)

[Christian Plessl]

On 29.09.2008, at 11:53, Jonathan S. Shapiro wrote:

> Watching this thread, it occurs to me that the "V" in "LLVM" is  
> creating
> confusion. So far as I know, LLVM is the first project to use  
> "virtual"
> to refer to the instruction set of the intermediate form. I understand
> why this labeling made sense (sort of), but it was unfortunate. The
> machine is abstract, not virtual, and the use of "virtual" here is so
> out of keeping with any other use of the term that it really does
> generate confusion.

The topic whether LLVM bitcode is independent of the target platform  
was raised several times on the mailing list, but it was never  
discussed in detail. I would appreciate learning more about the  
following questions:

-  Is the architecture dependence of LLVM IR only an artifact of llvm- 
gcc producing architecture dependent results?
- What architecture-specific features are present in the IR that  
prevent running the same LLVM bitcode on different architectures?

> Is this worth a FAQ entry?


I would definitely appreciate such a FAQ entry.

Best regards,
  Christian