Difference between revisions of "Toolchain"

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The following terminal command may be used to install all required software:
 
The following terminal command may be used to install all required software:
  
<code> $ sudo apt install libxml2-dev git cmake gcc g++ python bison flex zlib1g-dev swig python-dev libedit-dev libncurses5-dev ninja </code>
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<code> $ sudo apt install libxml2-dev git cmake gcc g++ python bison flex zlib1g-dev swig python-dev libedit-dev libncurses5-dev ninja-build </code>
  
 
=== Building Process ===
 
=== Building Process ===

Revision as of 11:33, 5 April 2019

The nu+ toolchain is a collection of tools required to compile a nu+ executable application. It is based on the LLVM project leveraging on a custom version of the Clang Frontend and on a from-scratch implementation of the Backend. The toolchain comes with a modified version of LLD, an elf2hex tool to generate nu+ compatible memory images and lastly a custom version of the objdump tool for debug purposes. A custom implementation of the libc libraries is provided.

The toolchain supports the compilation of C-based and OpenCL C kernels.

Building Toolchain on Ubuntu Linux environment

This section shows how to build the nu+ toolchain in an Ubuntu Linux environment. The following steps are still valid in any other Unix-based system despite of package manager related differences.

Required Software

The nu+ toolchain installation relies on the following dependencies:

  • Git
  • GCC
  • CMake
  • Python 2.7
  • libxml
  • Zlib
  • Bison
  • Flex
  • Libedit
  • Swig
  • ncurses libraries
  • Ninja

The following terminal command may be used to install all required software:

$ sudo apt install libxml2-dev git cmake gcc g++ python bison flex zlib1g-dev swig python-dev libedit-dev libncurses5-dev ninja-build

Building Process

First, you have to obtain the source code from the official repository by typing the following command:

$ git clone https://gitlab.com/catecio/NuPlusLLVM.git <clone_directory>

The repository contains a helper script, setup.sh to make easier the installation process. To build a new implementation of the nu+ toolchain just type:

$ ./setup.sh -n

This command starts the compilation process, installing the toolchain in Release Mode in /usr/local/llvm-nuplus. If a debug version is required, add the -d flag to setup.sh. You can also choose the number of threads for the compilation process, by using the -t=<number_of_threads> parameter.

At the end of the compilation process, libraries are required to be linked to the installation folder:

$ ./setup.sh -l

Now, you can use the toolchain to build your own application.

The nu+ LLVM Structure

The nu+ toolchain relies on the LLVM project, version 7.0, providing a custom implementation of its libraries in order to make possible the generation of nu+ kernels.

Clang is the compiler frontend for nu+, extended to handle the token-recognition of custom intrinsic functions.

LLVM core libraries are used to implement a custom backend for nu+, to manage the code lowering on the target-device.

LLD is adapted to match nu+ architecture requirements for linking.

objdump is provided to disassemble and analyze the generated code.

elf2hex is a tool required for memory image generation.


Check the following links for detailed informations on how the toolchain is implemented.

Compiling an Application for nu+