[LLVMdev] ANN: libclc (OpenCL C library implementation)

[Peter Collingbourne]

Hi Ralf,

> I agree on the fact that we should try to merge the different 
> open-source OpenCL projects, but at least at first glance they do not 
> seem to share too many design decisions.

One of the primary goals of libclc is to pool efforts between OpenCL
implementations in terms of implementing the large proportion of OpenCL C
builtin functions which can be implemented generically, since this task is
tedious and hardly ever the focus of any individual implementation but is a
conformance requirement.  I therefore consider libclc to be an important
step towards merging OpenCL projects.

> In contrast to Clover and pocl, we aimed at maximum performance before
> full support of the API (which simply requires more manpower than one
> PhD student). 

I was in a similar position when I decided to start the libclc
project.  While my ultimate goal was not performance, the sheer
number of built-in functions was far too much for my one-man research
project to handle.  What libclc represents right now are the generic
functions I have implemented so far as part of this project, plus a
few new functions.

> Also, due to simplicity we currently employ AMD's OpenCL-to-LLVM 
> frontend and OpenCL-library from an earlier SDK. libclc sounds like the 
> perfect fit for us to get rid of that.

Great.  If you do decide to get involved in libclc development,
please get in touch on the mailing list:
http://www.pcc.me.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libclc-dev

Thanks,
-- 
Peter