llvm dev - Nov 2015 - Adapting and open-sourcing PGI's Fortran frontend for LLVM

Hi everyone,

I have some very good news for everyone interested a production-quality Fortran
frontend for LLVM:

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and its
three national labs have reached an agreement with NVIDIA's PGI division to
adapt and open-source PGI's Fortran frontend, and associated Fortran runtime
library, for contribution to the LLVM project. PGI is now working on isolating
the necessary frontend components from their existing compiler code base and
adapting those components to produce LLVM IR for consumption by our existing
infrastructure.

We're expecting an initial source-code release from PGI by late 2016, and
while that's still far away, PGI's developers will be working closely
with the community to coordinate development efforts by others interested in
Fortran support (e.g. on ABI support code for other platforms). Even before
source code is available, PGI is going to keep the community updated on their
progress. After source code is released, PGI will continue development work in
coordination with the community to implement additional Fortran and OpenMP
features not currently supported by PGI Fortran. The frontend will use
LLVM's infrastructure for regression testing, and PGI will be developing
regression tests for these new features in accordance with our existing
practice.

I realize this is somewhat unconventional, but I'm confident that this
approach will allow the LLVM community to capture the considerable Fortran
expertise of PGI's team and provide our project with a production-quality
LLVM frontend in a relatively short amount of time.

For the official announcement, please see:

https://www.llnl.gov/news/nnsa-national-labs-team-nvidia-develop-open-source-fortran-compiler-technology

 -Hal

-- 
Hal Finkel
Assistant Computational Scientist
Leadership Computing Facility
Argonne National Laboratory

I won't arrive in time to ask @SC15 on Sunday, but some questions

Will this include their CAF runtime? What if any vendor extensions
will be supported? What about directives support like OpenACC/OpenMP?
Is the code itself written in C/C++ or something else? Which Fortran
standards will it support? Will they be open sourcing corresponding
tests?

On Sat, Nov 14, 2015 at 5:22 AM, Hal Finkel via llvm-dev
<llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I have some very good news for everyone interested a production-quality
Fortran frontend for LLVM:
>
> The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration
and its three national labs have reached an agreement with NVIDIA's PGI
division to adapt and open-source PGI's Fortran frontend, and associated
Fortran runtime library, for contribution to the LLVM project. PGI is now
working on isolating the necessary frontend components from their existing
compiler code base and adapting those components to produce LLVM IR for
consumption by our existing infrastructure.
>
> We're expecting an initial source-code release from PGI by late 2016,
and while that's still far away, PGI's developers will be working
closely with the community to coordinate development efforts by others
interested in Fortran support (e.g. on ABI support code for other platforms).
Even before source code is available, PGI is going to keep the community updated
on their progress. After source code is released, PGI will continue development
work in coordination with the community to implement additional Fortran and
OpenMP features not currently supported by PGI Fortran. The frontend will use
LLVM's infrastructure for regression testing, and PGI will be developing
regression tests for these new features in accordance with our existing
practice.
>
> I realize this is somewhat unconventional, but I'm confident that this
approach will allow the LLVM community to capture the considerable Fortran
expertise of PGI's team and provide our project with a production-quality
LLVM frontend in a relatively short amount of time.
>
> For the official announcement, please see:
>
>
https://www.llnl.gov/news/nnsa-national-labs-team-nvidia-develop-open-source-fortran-compiler-technology
>
>  -Hal
>
> --
> Hal Finkel
> Assistant Computational Scientist
> Leadership Computing Facility
> Argonne National Laboratory
> _______________________________________________
> LLVM Developers mailing list
> llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org
> http://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/llvm-dev

----- Original Message -----
> From: "C Bergström" <cbergstrom at pathscale.com>
> To: "Hal Finkel" <hfinkel at anl.gov>
> Cc: "LLVM Dev" <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org>,
"flang-dev" <flang-dev at googlegroups.com>, "Rob
Neely" <neely4 at llnl.gov>,
> "douglas miles (PGI)" <douglas.miles at pgroup.com>
> Sent: Friday, November 13, 2015 4:32:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [llvm-dev] Adapting and open-sourcing PGI's Fortran
frontend for LLVM
> 
> I won't arrive in time to ask @SC15 on Sunday, but some questions
> 
> Will this include their CAF runtime? What if any vendor extensions
> will be supported? What about directives support like OpenACC/OpenMP?
> Is the code itself written in C/C++ or something else? Which Fortran
> standards will it support? Will they be open sourcing corresponding
> tests?
I'm going to defer to the PGI folks on answering these questions for now
(except to note that, as stated below, there will be OpenMP support).

 -Hal
> 
> On Sat, Nov 14, 2015 at 5:22 AM, Hal Finkel via llvm-dev
> <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I have some very good news for everyone interested a
> > production-quality Fortran frontend for LLVM:
> >
> > The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security
> > Administration and its three national labs have reached an
> > agreement with NVIDIA's PGI division to adapt and open-source
> > PGI's Fortran frontend, and associated Fortran runtime library,
> > for contribution to the LLVM project. PGI is now working on
> > isolating the necessary frontend components from their existing
> > compiler code base and adapting those components to produce LLVM
> > IR for consumption by our existing infrastructure.
> >
> > We're expecting an initial source-code release from PGI by late
> > 2016, and while that's still far away, PGI's developers will
be
> > working closely with the community to coordinate development
> > efforts by others interested in Fortran support (e.g. on ABI
> > support code for other platforms). Even before source code is
> > available, PGI is going to keep the community updated on their
> > progress. After source code is released, PGI will continue
> > development work in coordination with the community to implement
> > additional Fortran and OpenMP features not currently supported by
> > PGI Fortran. The frontend will use LLVM's infrastructure for
> > regression testing, and PGI will be developing regression tests
> > for these new features in accordance with our existing practice.
> >
> > I realize this is somewhat unconventional, but I'm confident that
> > this approach will allow the LLVM community to capture the
> > considerable Fortran expertise of PGI's team and provide our
> > project with a production-quality LLVM frontend in a relatively
> > short amount of time.
> >
> > For the official announcement, please see:
> >
> >
https://www.llnl.gov/news/nnsa-national-labs-team-nvidia-develop-open-source-fortran-compiler-technology
> >
> >  -Hal
> >
> > --
> > Hal Finkel
> > Assistant Computational Scientist
> > Leadership Computing Facility
> > Argonne National Laboratory
> > _______________________________________________
> > LLVM Developers mailing list
> > llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org
> > http://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/llvm-dev
> 
-- 
Hal Finkel
Assistant Computational Scientist
Leadership Computing Facility
Argonne National Laboratory

On 13 November 2015 at 22:22, Hal Finkel via llvm-dev
<llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I have some very good news for everyone interested a production-quality
Fortran frontend for LLVM:
>
> The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration
and its three national labs have reached an agreement with NVIDIA's PGI
division to adapt and open-source PGI's Fortran frontend, and associated
Fortran runtime library, for contribution to the LLVM project. PGI is now
working on isolating the necessary frontend components from their existing
compiler code base and adapting those components to produce LLVM IR for
consumption by our existing infrastructure.
>
> We're expecting an initial source-code release from PGI by late 2016,
and while that's still far away, PGI's developers will be working
closely with the community to coordinate development efforts by others
interested in Fortran support (e.g. on ABI support code for other platforms).
Even before source code is available, PGI is going to keep the community updated
on their progress. After source code is released, PGI will continue development
work in coordination with the community to implement additional Fortran and
OpenMP features not currently supported by PGI Fortran. The frontend will use
LLVM's infrastructure for regression testing, and PGI will be developing
regression tests for these new features in accordance with our existing
practice.
What will happen to flang development efforts?

Alex

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex Bradbury" <asb at asbradbury.org>
> To: "Hal Finkel" <hfinkel at anl.gov>
> Cc: "LLVM Dev" <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org>,
"flang-dev" <flang-dev at googlegroups.com>, "Rob
Neely" <neely4 at llnl.gov>,
> "douglas miles (PGI)" <douglas.miles at pgroup.com>
> Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 1:41:08 AM
> Subject: Re: [llvm-dev] Adapting and open-sourcing PGI's Fortran
frontend for LLVM
> 
> On 13 November 2015 at 22:22, Hal Finkel via llvm-dev
> <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I have some very good news for everyone interested a
> > production-quality Fortran frontend for LLVM:
> >
> > The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security
> > Administration and its three national labs have reached an
> > agreement with NVIDIA's PGI division to adapt and open-source
> > PGI's Fortran frontend, and associated Fortran runtime library,
> > for contribution to the LLVM project. PGI is now working on
> > isolating the necessary frontend components from their existing
> > compiler code base and adapting those components to produce LLVM
> > IR for consumption by our existing infrastructure.
> >
> > We're expecting an initial source-code release from PGI by late
> > 2016, and while that's still far away, PGI's developers will
be
> > working closely with the community to coordinate development
> > efforts by others interested in Fortran support (e.g. on ABI
> > support code for other platforms). Even before source code is
> > available, PGI is going to keep the community updated on their
> > progress. After source code is released, PGI will continue
> > development work in coordination with the community to implement
> > additional Fortran and OpenMP features not currently supported by
> > PGI Fortran. The frontend will use LLVM's infrastructure for
> > regression testing, and PGI will be developing regression tests
> > for these new features in accordance with our existing practice.
> 
> What will happen to flang development efforts?
This is obviously a somewhat-tricky question. There is an existing Flang code
base and a few people have been working on it. Furthermore, it is still the only
one we'll have for the next year. My hope is that, with the participation of
the PGI developers, we'll be able to structure our Flang efforts on pieces
that we'll be able to pick up and move to the code that PGI is releasing
once that happens. Between development on the Driver, ABI support code, and
testing and other infrastructure, the community can make substantial progress in
2016. By the end of 2016, we'll combine these pieces with PGI's code,
and have a production-quality LLVM Fortran compiler representing the totality of
this work.

 -Hal
> 
> Alex
> 
-- 
Hal Finkel
Assistant Computational Scientist
Leadership Computing Facility
Argonne National Laboratory

On Sat, Nov 14, 2015 at 2:41 PM, Alex Bradbury via llvm-dev
<llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
>
> What will happen to flang development efforts?
I hope Hal is correct, but more likely he's just giving a tactful and
politically correct answer.

Reality is more likely that flang will have better code and design.
We'll end up with a Fortran front-end that mirrors the current quality
and capability as PGI. Frankly and no offence meant, but I would have
been much happily if they had just sponsored development on flang and
or worked with NAG (who has a much stronger reputation for actual
Fortran conformance - I've never tested PGI tbh)

Keep in mind that PGI's Fortran fe is likely c and has been around for
a while.. (Since the 90's?) The PGI engineers are welcomed to placate
my curiosity and correct any wrong assumptions. I hope like heck that
we don't end up with actual Fortran code (in the FE or runtime). That
would introduce a circular build dependency which I can assure you is
a major pita.

Other curiosities - will the module format be compatible with PGI
compiler? What about F2K8 and future standards? Arrays? Will they
(when?) publicly document how they are mapping things in Fortran to
llvm ir or we'll just end up with a code drop? (I personally know of a
few challenges with mapping Fortran to llvm ir)

Will we have to do a public information request or how much is PGI
being paid for this..

> On Nov 13, 2015, at 2:22 PM, Hal Finkel via llvm-dev <llvm-dev at
lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I have some very good news for everyone interested a production-quality
Fortran frontend for LLVM:
> 
> The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration
and its three national labs have reached an agreement with NVIDIA's PGI
division to adapt and open-source PGI's Fortran frontend, and associated
Fortran runtime library, for contribution to the LLVM project. PGI is now
working on isolating the necessary frontend components from their existing
compiler code base and adapting those components to produce LLVM IR for
consumption by our existing infrastructure.
This sounds very interesting Hal (and Doug), and I’m glad to hear about it.  I
look forward to when more details and code is available,

-Chris

Hi Hal,
I haven't been following this closely, but has there been any updates
recently.

 Regards,
  Chad

-----Original Message-----
From: llvm-dev [mailto:llvm-dev-bounces at lists.llvm.org] On Behalf Of Chris
Lattner via llvm-dev
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2015 12:46 AM
To: Hal Finkel <hfinkel at anl.gov>
Cc: LLVM Dev <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org>; flang-dev <flang-dev at
googlegroups.com>; douglas miles (PGI) <douglas.miles at pgroup.com>;
Rob Neely <neely4 at llnl.gov>
Subject: Re: [llvm-dev] Adapting and open-sourcing PGI's Fortran frontend
for LLVM

> On Nov 13, 2015, at 2:22 PM, Hal Finkel via llvm-dev <llvm-dev at
lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I have some very good news for everyone interested a production-quality
Fortran frontend for LLVM:
> 
> The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration
and its three national labs have reached an agreement with NVIDIA's PGI
division to adapt and open-source PGI's Fortran frontend, and associated
Fortran runtime library, for contribution to the LLVM project. PGI is now
working on isolating the necessary frontend components from their existing
compiler code base and adapting those components to produce LLVM IR for
consumption by our existing infrastructure.
This sounds very interesting Hal (and Doug), and I’m glad to hear about it.  I
look forward to when more details and code is available,

-Chris
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