llvm dev - Jun 2005 - [LLVMdev] Using LLVM to compile LLVM?

Hi,

I'm curious...Can LLVM compile LLVM?  And if so, why don't we use LLVM 
to compile itself?  Why use gcc?

I guess doing it this way could make it hard to fix some bugs, since 
those bugs would be in the compiler you're using for development as 
well.  But it seems that LLVM is developed/robust enough at this point 
that there's a core of it we can use for development work while we 
fix/extend the rest.  Is this a feasible idea?

Rob

Robert L. Bocchino Jr.
Ph.D. Student
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005, Robert L. Bocchino Jr. wrote:
> I'm curious...Can LLVM compile LLVM?
Yes, configure llvm with CC=llvmgcc and CXX=llvmg++
> And if so, why don't we use LLVM to 
> compile itself?  Why use gcc?
Primarily because llvm doesn't yet support full debugger info.
> I guess doing it this way could make it hard to fix some bugs, since those 
> bugs would be in the compiler you're using for development as well. 
But it
> seems that LLVM is developed/robust enough at this point that there's a
core
> of it we can use for development work while we fix/extend the rest.  Is
this
> a feasible idea?
Yes definitely.  Bootstrapping a compiler is a very important test of 
stability and other things.  LLVM has in the past done this and I have no 
reason to think it wouldn't work now.  OTOH, I'm not aware of anyone 
actively doing this on a regular basis.

-Chris

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