[LLVMdev] PIC16 removal details

[Dan Gohman]

On Sep 21, 2011, at 4:51 PM, Matthew Hilt wrote:

> The target in this case is 8-bit, accumulator based, however it is Von Neumann; so - good to know it's not *quite* the "Trifecta of Doom".  LLVM offers some very attractive features for our usage, and it would be disappointing to abandon it as an option all together.  Faced with the alternative being to write the compiler from scratch, is the consensus that doing so will be a better path forward for us than a new LLVM backend?

It's hard to say.  To most of us, "8-bit accumulator based" suggests a heavy load of constraints.
The more constraints you have, the harder it's going to be to shoehorn a large, complex,
and naive (to your constraints) piece of software into the middle of everything, interposed
between the programmer and the hardware.  It will require more than just extending LLVM to
your needs.  It'll require fighting against LLVM actively working against your needs.

Dan