1f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" 2f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> 3f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc<!-- Material used from: HTML 4.01 specs: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ --> 4f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc<html> 5f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc<head> 6f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> 7f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <title>"clang" C Language Family Frontend for LLVM</title> 8f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="menu.css"> 9f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="content.css"> 10f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc</head> 11f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc<body> 12f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc<!--#include virtual="menu.html.incl"--> 13f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc<div id="content"> 14f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--*********************************************************************--> 15f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <h1>clang: a C language family frontend for LLVM</h1> 16f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--*********************************************************************--> 17f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 18f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p>The goal of the Clang project is to create a new C, C++, Objective C and 19f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc Objective C++ front-end for the <a href="http://www.llvm.org/">LLVM</a> 20f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc compiler. You can <a href="get_started.html">get and build</a> the source 21f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc today.</p> 22f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 23f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 24f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <h2 id="goals">Features and Goals</h2> 25f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 26f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 27f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p>Some of the goals for the project include the following:</p> 28f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 29f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p><b><a href="features.html#enduser">End-User Features</a></b>:</p> 30f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 31f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <ul> 32f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>Fast compiles and low memory use</li> 33f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>Expressive diagnostics (<a href="diagnostics.html">examples</a>)</li> 34f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>GCC compatibility</li> 35f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc </ul> 36f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 37f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p><b><a href="features.html#applications">Utility and 38f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc Applications</a></b>:</p> 39f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 40f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <ul> 41f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>Modular library based architecture</li> 42f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>Support diverse clients (refactoring, static analysis, code generation, 43*0a6a1f1dSLionel Sambuc etc.)</li> 44f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>Allow tight integration with IDEs</li> 45f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>Use the LLVM 'BSD' License</li> 46f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc </ul> 47f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 48f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p><b><a href="features.html#design">Internal Design and 49f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc Implementation</a></b>:</p> 50f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 51f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <ul> 52f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>A real-world, production quality compiler</li> 53f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>A simple and hackable code base</li> 54f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>A single unified parser for C, Objective C, C++, and Objective C++</li> 55f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li>Conformance with C/C++/ObjC and their variants</li> 56f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc </ul> 57f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 58f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p>Of course this is only a rough outline of the goals and features of 59f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc Clang. To get a true sense of what it is all about, see the <a 60f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc href="features.html">Features</a> section, which breaks 61f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc each of these down and explains them in more detail.</p> 62f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 63f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 64f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 65f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <h2>Why?</h2> 66f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 67f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 68*0a6a1f1dSLionel Sambuc <p>Development of the new front-end was started out of a need 69f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc for a compiler that allows better diagnostics, better integration with 70f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc IDEs, a license that is compatible with commercial products, and a 71f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc nimble compiler that is easy to develop and maintain. All of these were 72f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc motivations for starting work on a new front-end that could 73f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc meet these needs.</p> 74f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 75f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p>A good (but quite dated) introduction to Clang can be found in the 76f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc following video lectures:</p> 77f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 78f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <ul> 79f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li><a href="clang_video-05-25-2007.html">Clang Introduction</a> 80f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc (May 2007)</li> 81f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <li><a href="clang_video-07-25-2007.html">Features and Performance of 82f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc Clang</a> (July 2007)</li> 83f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc </ul> 84f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 85f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p>For a more detailed comparison between Clang and other compilers, please 86f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc see the <a href="comparison.html">clang comparison page</a>.</p> 87f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 88f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 89f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <h2>Current Status</h2> 90f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 91f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 92*0a6a1f1dSLionel Sambuc <p>Clang is considered to 93f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc be a production quality C, Objective-C, C++ and Objective-C++ compiler when 94f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc targeting X86-32, X86-64, and ARM (other targets may have caveats, but are 95f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc usually easy to fix). If you are looking for source analysis or 96f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc source-to-source transformation tools, clang is probably a great 97f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc solution for you. Clang supports C++11, please see the <a 98f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc href="cxx_status.html">C++ status</a> page for more 99f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc information.</p> 100f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 101f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 102f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <h2>Get it and get involved!</h2> 103f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <!--=====================================================================--> 104f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 105f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p>Start by <a href="get_started.html">getting the code, building it, and 106f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc playing with it</a>. This will show you the sorts of things we can do 107f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc today and will let you have the "clang experience" first hand: hopefully 108f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc it will "resonate" with you. :)</p> 109f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc 110f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc <p>Once you've done that, please consider <a href="get_involved.html">getting 111f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc involved in the clang community</a>. The clang developers include numerous 112f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc volunteer contributors with a variety of backgrounds. If you're 113f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc interested in 114f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc following the development of clang, signing up for a mailing list is a good 115f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc way to learn about how the project works.</p> 116f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc</div> 117f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc</body> 118f4a2713aSLionel Sambuc</html> 119