[LLVMdev] First-class aggregate semantics

[Nick Lewycky]

Dustin Laurence wrote:
> On 01/07/2010 06:03 PM, Alastair Lynn wrote:
>   
>> You'll probably need to use insertvalue to construct your return value.
>>     
>
> Ah ha!
>
> The fact is I didn't really understand the significance of this part
> when I read it, and so didn't remember it when I needed it.  OK, so I
> have tested it and I can now build up a struct like this
>
>     %s1 = insertvalue {i32, i32} {i32 0, i32 0}, i32 1, 0 ; s1 = {1,0}
>     %s2 = insertvalue {i32, i32} %s1, i32 2, 1            ; %s2 == {1,2}
>   
As a small refinement, I recommend:

%s1 = insertvalue {i32, i32} undef, i32 1, 0
%s2 = insertvalue {i32, i32} %s1, i32 2, 1
> which reminds me of another thing I never understood.  I can't make my
> code (slightly) more readable by changing that to something like
>
>     %s0 = {i32 0, i32 0}
>     %s1 = insertvalue {i32, i32} %s0, i32 1, 0     ; s1 = {1,0}
>     %s2 = insertvalue {i32, i32} %s1, i32 2, 1     ; %s2 == {1,2}
>   
No, there is no copy or move instruction in LLVM. Recall that the text 
format is 1:1 with the in-memory model of the program. A copy 
instruction in the IR would literally mean "go look at my operand 
instead", leading to logic in every optimization that checks for a 
CopyInst and chases the pointer.

The astute reader will note that I'm lying again, but it's for your own 
good. ;-) "%x = bitcast i32 %y to i32" is a legal way to copy, but the 
intention behind a BitcastInst is that it is used to change the type.

Nick
> because LLVM will complain that it "expected instruction opcode" at the
> assignment to %s0.  If there is a general way to give names to constants
> in that way I didn't find it.  In fact, I think I tended not to use
> temporaries like I would variables precisely because when I tried the
> second alternative as the natural way to hand-code it and it didn't
> work, I didn't think how to phrase it so only the results of operations
> get named.
>
> Help me understand the underlying logic--why can one only name the
> results of operations?  I realize that the local temporaries are
> notionally register variables for a machine with an infinite number of
> registers, but my very dim memory of real assembly was that I not only
> could load constants into registers but had to do so.  What part of the
> picture am I missing here?
>
> You need an IR tutorial.  Or, to speak correctly, *I* need a tutorial.
> :-)  But I'm learning....
>
> Dustin
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