[llvm-dev] LLD status update and performance chart

[Rafael Avila de Espindola via llvm-dev]

David Chisnall via llvm-dev <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> writes:

> On 12 Dec 2016, at 03:39, Rui Ueyama via llvm-dev <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
>> 
>> LLD's driver currently takes only a command line argument strings, so you need to write ELF files to a filesystem and read them back at the moment.
>> 
>> Theoretically, we could accept a list of command line strings and MemoryBuffer objects (instead of filenames) so that we can link in-memory ELF object files. Adding that feature shouldn't be hard.
>
> It would be nice to have a similar interface to the one in libclang, where the driver is given a map that substitutes in-memory objects for specific files, so that the same command line can be used whether the inputs are on disk or in memory.

I would strongly object to expanding our "library" interface at the
moment.

Even what we currently have I think is a bad idea and a distraction from
the current objective: writing an excellent stand alone linker. We
benefit massively from simple error and memory management.

Once the linker is "done", we can discuss other possible uses and their
costs. By "done" I mean at least having all the features we want and
having replaced bfd ld in at least two freebsd architectures.

Cheers,
Rafael