[llvm-dev] LLD status update and performance chart

[Rafael Avila de Espindola via llvm-dev]

Andrew Kelley via llvm-dev <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> writes:

> On Tue, Dec 13, 2016 at 1:06 PM, Rui Ueyama via llvm-dev <
> llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
>>
>> That said, I think the current our "API" to allow users call our linker's
>> main function hit the sweet spot. I know at least a few LLVM-based language
>> developers who want to eliminate external dependencies and embed a linker
>> to their compilers. That's a reasonable usage, and I think allowing them to
>> pass a map from filename to MemoryBuffer objects makes sense, too. That
>> would be done without affecting the overall linker architecture. I don't
>> oppose to that idea, and if someone wrote a patch, I'm fine with that.
>>
>
> As an LLVM-based language developer, this is exactly what I want to do. In
> short:
>
>  * Avoid depending on an external binary
>  * Avoid a fork+exec
>  * Avoid unnecessary use of the filesystem
>
> Does this feature compromise progress on the linker binary?
>
> Would it be reasonable for this feature to exist in the next minor version
> release of lld?

I would please ask for it to wait. It requires designing how the linker
script parser and the thin archive system will fetch new files as they
are found.

Also, please consider what is so bad about writing a file. If your
language has anything like translation unites than most of the program
should already be in .o files.

Cheers,
Rafael