111 lines · html
1<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"2 "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">3<!-- Material used from: HTML 4.01 specs: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ -->4<html>5<head>6 <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">7 <title>Clang C Language Family Frontend for LLVM</title>8 <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="menu.css">9 <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="content.css">10</head>11<body>12<!--#include virtual="menu.html.incl"-->13<div id="content">14 <!--*********************************************************************-->15 <h1>Clang: a C language family frontend for LLVM</h1>16 <!--*********************************************************************-->17 18 <p>The Clang project provides a language front-end and tooling infrastructure19 for languages in the C language family (C, C++, Objective C/C++, OpenCL, and20 CUDA) for the <a href="https://www.llvm.org/">LLVM</a>21 project. Both a GCC-compatible compiler driver (<tt>clang</tt>) and an22 MSVC-compatible compiler driver (<tt>clang-cl.exe</tt>) are provided. You23 can <a href="get_started.html">get and build</a> the source today.</p>24 25 <!--=====================================================================-->26 <h2 id="goals">Features and Goals</h2>27 <!--=====================================================================-->28 29 <p>Some of the goals for the project include the following:</p>30 31 <p><b><a href="features.html#enduser">End-User Features</a></b>:</p>32 33 <ul>34 <li>Fast compiles and low memory use</li>35 <li>Expressive diagnostics (<a href="diagnostics.html">examples</a>)</li>36 <li>GCC & MSVC compatibility</li>37 </ul>38 39 <p><b><a href="features.html#applications">Utility and40 Applications</a></b>:</p>41 42 <ul>43 <li>Modular library based architecture</li>44 <li>Support diverse clients (refactoring, static analysis, code generation,45 etc.)</li>46 <li>Allow tight integration with IDEs</li>47 <li>Use the LLVM 'Apache 2'48 <a href="https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/main/LICENSE.TXT">License</a>49 </li>50 </ul>51 52 <p><b><a href="features.html#design">Internal Design and53 Implementation</a></b>:</p>54 55 <ul>56 <li>A real-world, production quality compiler</li>57 <li>A simple and hackable code base</li>58 <li>A single unified parser for C, Objective C, C++, and Objective C++</li>59 <li>Conformance with C/C++/ObjC and their variants</li>60 </ul>61 62 <p>Of course this is only a rough outline of the goals and features of63 Clang. To get a true sense of what it is all about, see the <a64 href="features.html">Features</a> section, which breaks65 each of these down and explains them in more detail.</p>66 67 68 <!--=====================================================================-->69 <h2>Why?</h2>70 <!--=====================================================================-->71 72 <p>Development of the new front-end was started out of a need73 for a compiler that allows better diagnostics, better integration with74 IDEs, a license that is compatible with commercial products, and a75 nimble compiler that is easy to develop and maintain. All of these were76 motivations for starting work on a new front-end that could77 meet these needs.</p>78 79 <!--=====================================================================-->80 <h2>Current Status</h2>81 <!--=====================================================================-->82 83 <p>Clang is considered to84 be a production quality C, Objective-C, C++ and Objective-C++ compiler when85 targeting any target supported by LLVM. As example, Clang is used in86 production to build performance-critical software like Chrome or Firefox.87 <br /> If you are looking for source analysis or source-to-source88 transformation tools, Clang is probably a great solution for you. Please see89 the <a href="cxx_status.html">C++ status</a> page or the90 <a href="c_status.html">C status</a> page for more information about what91 standard modes and features are supported.</p>92 93 <!--=====================================================================-->94 <h2>Get it and get involved!</h2>95 <!--=====================================================================-->96 97 <p>Start by <a href="get_started.html">getting the code, building it, and98 playing with it</a>. This will show you the sorts of things we can do99 today and will let you have the "Clang experience" first hand: hopefully100 it will "resonate" with you. :)</p>101 102 <p>Once you've done that, please consider <a href="get_involved.html">getting103 involved in the Clang community</a>. The Clang developers include numerous104 volunteer contributors with a variety of backgrounds. If you're105 interested in106 following the development of Clang, signing up for a mailing list is a good107 way to learn about how the project works.</p>108</div>109</body>110</html>111