[cfe-dev] Google Summer of Code - Port LLVM/clang to Plan 9

[Douglas Gregor]

On Mar 18, 2010, at 1:29 PM, Jordan Gordeev wrote:

> I am a student who would like to participate in Google Summer of Code 2010.
> 
> I've come up with the following idea:
> 
> 	Port LLVM/clang to Plan 9
> 
> Plan 9 is an operating system with the following special characteristics:
>  1) All binaries are statically linked. There's no dynamic linking.
>  2) It uses its own object format which doesn't contain 
> machine-executable instructions. Here's a quote from the Plan 9 compiler 
> documentation:
>  "The object files are binary forms of assembly language, similar to 
> what might be passed between the first and second passes of an assembler."
>  A new LLVM backend will have to be written.
>  3) It never had C++ support.
> 
> Do you think porting LLVM/clang to Plan 9 is doable, especially in the 
> GSoC time frame?


I think it's probably slightly on the large side in the GSoC time frame. More importantly, Plan 9 isn't a mainstream platform and isn't likely to be of interest to much of the LLVM community. GSoC mentors are far more interested in accepting projects that will have a significant benefit to the LLVM community, so a project like this runs the risk of being ignored.

	- Doug