[LLVMdev] Question About Target Dependent Optimization

[Isaac Asay]

My name is Isaac. I'm a student at Cal Poly State University, San Luis
Obispo, and I'm currently finishing my thesis on target-specific code
optimization for my master's degree. I was wondering if I could ask a few
questions I have about working with the LLVM codebase.

My thesis involves optimizing the way that LLVM deals with memory operations
when targeting the ARM processor (specifically the ARM and Thumb-2 ISAs).
Specifically, I'm writing a pass that runs just before the passes in the
ARMLoadStoreOptimizer.cpp file. I've already devised an algorithm that I
believe will work, and have it mostly implemented in LLVM, but I'm having
trouble with some of the details.

Specifically, I'm trying to rearrange the MachineInstrs within each
MachineBasicBlock. I've noticed that there are several tutorials in the
online documentation about creating LLVM IR transformations, but haven't
found any resources beyond the doxygen documentation for MachineInstr level
transformations. I have successfully analyzed the MachineInstrs using helper
classes that I have implemented, but I need to rearrange the MachineInstrs
themselves. When I naively use the MachineBasicBlock.remove() and
MachineBasicBlock.push_back() methods, pushing the MachineInstrs back onto
the MachineBasicBlock in a different order, LLVM crashes when I attempt to
compile a "hello world" style program. Looking at the stderr output I setup
for logging purposes, it appears that moving the MachineInstrs in this way
does not update certain relevant information, such as when a register is
marked to be "killed."

I am continuing to look over the code in the ARMLoadStoreOptimizer.cpp file,
but I was wondering if you had a specific suggestion or a documentation
resource that I could use to perform this instruction rearrangement in an
LLVM idiomatic way. Using my algorithm, I already know where I can move
MachineInstrs without effecting program correctness, but I don't know how I
can reorder the MachineInstrs while maintaining all the associated
live-range information.

Thanks for your time, and I welcome any suggestions you might have for me,

Regards,

Isaac Asay
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