llvm dev - Jun 2021 - What is relationship between Operator and Instruction?

Hello everyone,

I am learning the IR in LLVM and trying to do some analysis. Now I am doing
a dataflow analysis via the def-use chain provided by Users.

In my opinion, the Users of a Value should be an instruction. However, when
I iterate the User of a Value, sometimes I get an Operator, like
GEPOperator, or an ConstantExpr.
I am quite confused about these situations. My question is, what is
Operator in IR? and what is the difference between Operator and
Instruction? Why can I get a GEPOperator as an Operand in a instruction
rather than two instruction( a gep instruction and the next User
instruction) ?

Best regards,
Shulin
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