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-rw-r--r--docs/ExtendingLLVM.html16
1 files changed, 9 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/docs/ExtendingLLVM.html b/docs/ExtendingLLVM.html
index 8c880e5..7dc8d15 100644
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@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ different passes that you intend to use with your extension, and there are
<em>many</em> LLVM analyses and transformations, so it may be quite a bit of
work.</p>
+<p>Adding an <a href="#intrinsic">intrinsic function</a> is easier than adding
+an instruction, and is transparent to optimization passes which treat it as an
+unanalyzable function. If your added functionality can be expressed as a
+function call, an intrinsic function is the method of choice for LLVM
+extension.</p>
+
<p>Before you invest a significant amount of effort into a non-trivial
extension, <span class="doc_warning">ask on the list</span> if what you are
looking to do can be done with already-existing infrastructure, or if maybe
@@ -72,11 +78,12 @@ href="http://mail.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev">LLVM-dev</a>.</p>
<div class="doc_text">
<p><span class="doc_warning">WARNING: adding instructions changes the bytecode
-format, and will break compatibility with currently-existing LLVM
-installations.</span> Only add an instruction if it is absolutely
+format, and it will take some effort to maintain compatibility with
+the previous version.</span> Only add an instruction if it is absolutely
necessary.</p>
<ol>
+
<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Instruction.def</tt>:
add a number for your instruction and an enum name</li>
@@ -117,11 +124,6 @@ to understand this new instruction.</p>
<div class="doc_text">
-<p>Adding an intrinsic function is easier than adding an instruction, and is
-transparent to optimization passes which treat it as an unanalyzable function.
-If your added functionality can be expressed as a function call, an intrinsic
-function is the method of choice for LLVM extension.</p>
-
<ol>
<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Intrinsics.h</tt>: