[LLVMdev] Preferring to use GCC instead of LLVM

[Owen Anderson]

On May 13, 2008, at 1:55 AM, kr512 wrote:

>
>
> me22.ca wrote:
>> You said that if I have to install GCC, you might as well
>> just use it for everything.  That statement very clearly
>> doesn't apply anymore, since it's binutils that's the
>> dependency.  Or if you still stand by it, it means that
>> you consider GCC to also be "incomplete".
>
> How do I get the necessary binutils on Windoze?  Install
> MinGW or Cygwin.  But if I do that, then I may as well use
> MinGW for everything and not bother with LLVM.

You, as the developer, install/build binutils in MinGW.  Then you pull  
the executables out and stick them in the package that you give your  
clients.  Thus the clients don't need MinGW.

> Our frontend compiler can generate C code as input to a C
> compiler (such as GCC in MinGW) and use the C compiler as a
> backend solution.  Alternatively our frontend compiler could
> be made to generate LLVM instructions as input to LLVM.  The
> problem is that LLVM is an incomplete backend solution --
> LLVM practically requires that MinGW or Cygwin be installed.
>
> But if MinGW or Cygwin is installed, then I have no need for
> LLVM !!
>

This is not the case.  Having MinGW/Cygwin installed != having GCC  
installed.

> The Solution:
> Make LLVM usable as a DLL or SLL in Windoze, capable of
> generating a finished ready-to-execute .EXE or .DLL file,
> without requiring that MinGW or Cygwin be installed first.
>

The first part is already true: LLVM is built as a set of libraries.   
The latter is unlikely to change unless you're volunteering to write it.

--Owen
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