Understanding LLVM today

Nowadays, the LLVM project has grown and holds a huge collection of compiler-related tools. In fact, the name LLVM might refer to any of the following:

  • The LLVM project/infrastructure: This is an umbrella for several projects that, together, form a complete compiler: frontends, backends, optimizers, assemblers, linkers, libc++, compiler-rt, and a JIT engine. The word "LLVM" has this meaning, for example, in the following sentence: "LLVM is comprised of several projects".
  • An LLVM-based compiler: This is a compiler built partially or completely with the LLVM infrastructure. For example, a compiler might use LLVM for the frontend and backend but use GCC and GNU system libraries to perform the final link. LLVM has this meaning ...

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