[LLVMdev] Register variables

[Tom Primožič]

Hello!
I have been considering using LLVM for my compiler project for some time
now, and have been extensively researching its capabilities. However, I have
come to a sticking point that I cannot solve.

My language is a multi paradigm language, but with the emphasis on
"functional". As such, it is expected that programs will allocate a lot of
small, short-lived data. This means, in particular, that allocations have to
be very fast - increase the heap pointer and check for heap overflow.
However, I have not yet found a way to tell the LLVM compiler to keep a
global variable in a register at all times (except when using some foreign
calling convention, when all registers are saved on the stack). Another
reason that I would like to keep the current heap pointer in processor
registers is that my language will support multi-threading, with every
thread having its own heap (there will be a global heap, too, but
allocations will be more expensive). Therefore, I cannot use a global memory
location for the heap pointer, as it has to be different for every thread on
the system.

If any of you has any ideas how to solve this issue, please tell me. I have
also looked at some other projects (C--, and some other implementations of
compilers for functional languages), but have not yet found anything useful.

 - Tom Primožič
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