2426ac6865
This helps to disambiguate accesses in the caller and the callee after LLVM inlining in some apps. I did not see any performance changes, but this is one step towards enabling other optimizations in the apps that I am looking at. The definition of llvm.noalias says: ``` ... indicates that memory locations accessed via pointer values based on the argument or return value are not also accessed, during the execution of the function, via pointer values not based on the argument or return value. This guarantee only holds for memory locations that are modified, by any means, during the execution of the function. ``` I believe this exactly matches Fortran rules for the dummy arguments that are modified during their subprogram execution. I also set llvm.noalias and llvm.nocapture on the !fir.box<> arguments, because the corresponding descriptors cannot be captured and cannot alias anything (not based on them) during the execution of the subprogram.
Flang
Flang is a ground-up implementation of a Fortran front end written in modern C++. It started off as the f18 project (https://github.com/flang-compiler/f18) with an aim to replace the previous flang project (https://github.com/flang-compiler/flang) and address its various deficiencies. F18 was subsequently accepted into the LLVM project and rechristened as Flang.
Please note that flang is not ready yet for production usage.
Getting Started
Read more about flang in the docs directory. Start with the compiler overview.
To better understand Fortran as a language and the specific grammar accepted by flang, read Fortran For C Programmers and flang's specifications of the Fortran grammar and the OpenMP grammar.
Treatment of language extensions is covered in this document.
To understand the compilers handling of intrinsics, see the discussion of intrinsics.
To understand how a flang program communicates with libraries at runtime, see the discussion of runtime descriptors.
If you're interested in contributing to the compiler, read the style guide and also review how flang uses modern C++ features.
If you are interested in writing new documentation, follow LLVM's Markdown style guide.
Consult the Getting Started with Flang for information on building and running flang.