{"id":181743,"date":"2024-03-19T11:13:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T10:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/?p=181743"},"modified":"2026-08-09T19:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T18:41:40","slug":"llvm-everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-compiler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/llvm-everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-compiler","title":{"rendered":"LLVM: Everything you need to know about this compiler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While it is common practice for developers to write programs in a “high-level” language such as Python or Java, these same programs need to be “compiled” in order to make direct use of the microprocessor’s capabilities. LLVM has been a major innovator in this field, promoting aspects such as modularity and real-time compilation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Developers<\/strong> know that writing a sequence of instructions in a language such as Python, Java or C++<\/a> is just one step in the process leading to an executable program. The process that transforms the “source code” (what the developer writes) into code that can be used by the microprocessor is called compilation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Languages such as Python or Java are called high-level languages. They feature instructions that are easy for humans to understand, such as the famous IF, which is used to test a condition and is found in most languages<\/p>\n\n\n

Developing a program in machine code is extremely arduous, so it’s compilation that converts instructions written in a high-level language into machine code.<\/p>\n\n\n

Designed by computer scientist Chris Lattner around 2002, at the University of Illinois, as part of his doctoral thesis, LLVM<\/strong> was conceived with a view to renewing the approach to compilation and optimizing its use.<\/p>\n\n\n

Optimizing the compilation process<\/h2>\n\n\n

Optimizing compilers<\/strong> is nothing new. The GCC compiler , an integral part of the GNU (for Linux) operating system launched by Richard Stallman in 1984 , has over time incorporated numerous optimization options to improve the efficiency of the code it generates.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

LLVM<\/strong>, for its part, appeared in the early 2000s, at a time when multi-core microprocessor<\/a> architectures were becoming commonplace, as were GPUs or computer graphics processors.<\/p>\n\n\n

LLVM stands for Low Level Virtual Machine,<\/a> and this name partly sums up what it achieves: the creation of virtual machines (capable of emulating the behavior of given processors) at a low level (and therefore, close to the processor).<\/p>\n\n\n

Find out more about our DevOps training<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

LLVM’s innovative approach<\/h2>\n\n\n

LLVM has proposed a number of innovative approaches:<\/p>\n\n\n