[LLVMdev] Thinking about "whacky" backends

[Cameron Zwarich]

What benefit do you get from having a backend here rather than an interpreter for LLVM IR?

Cameron

On May 31, 2011, at 5:30 PM, Joachim Durchholz wrote:

> I've been tossing around some ideas about high-level backends.
> 
> Say, have LLVM emit Perl code.
> 
> Sounds whacky but isn't. It's good for the first bootstrapping phase in 
> environments where you don't have a C compiler, where you don't have a 
> cross-compiled binary for download, but you can execute Perl.
> It also makes a great inspect-the-sources-with-an-editor stage for 
> aspiring compiler writers.
> 
> Or emit JVM bytecode, or maybe for the upcoming Parrot VM that the Perl 
> community is building.
> 
> The questions I'm having is:
> 1. Is this really a useful approach?
> 2. How much work would such a backend be?
> 
> Regards,
> Jo
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