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The LLVM Core project consists of:

  • Compiler - converts source code to LLVM IR
  • VM - executes compiled IR code

How can I embed the VM to a C++ application?

Alon Gubkin
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    More typically LLVM is used to compile directly to machine code. I'm not familiar with the latest, but Apple Clang is the most active LLVM project, and it's being postured as a competitor to GCC. – Potatoswatter Aug 20 '10 at 01:51
  • @Potatoswatter: unfortunately Clang is still a bit lacking (especially in C++0x features) but I have great hope indeed. Also the modular design is just so useful, a great many editors could benefit from its parser. – Matthieu M. Aug 20 '10 at 06:29

2 Answers2

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The LLVM is really a collection of libraries that you can link to, so it's pretty easy to embed. More often the LLVM takes IR that you generate and compiles it directly to machine code. There is also a library available to interpret and execute IR for platforms that do not support JIT compilation.

There's a pretty good tutorial available on the LLVM website here: http://llvm.org/docs/tutorial/. I suggest that you go through that and then ask more specific questions if you have them.

Evan Shaw
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    Likely you'll need several of them. LLVMCore, LLVMSupport, and LLVMSystem are the bare minimum. It really depends on what you want to do, exactly. For a somewhat outdated list, see: http://llvm.org/docs/UsingLibraries.html – Evan Shaw Aug 20 '10 at 19:01
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Take a look at the HowToUseJIT example in LLVM.

SK-logic
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