in reply to Re^4: perllVm: A start.
in thread perllVm: A start.

One of the bits of using LLVM that has gone completely unmentioned in all of the discussion I've seen so far, is the benefits of using its (frankly amazing) analysis & tracing tools. I've learnt more about the structure (and cruft) of the perl internals in the last 100 hours than in the previous 5 years.

Can you please point a camera at your computer screen and vocalize your thoughts?

Then upload this recording somewhere?

Thank you :)

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Re^6: perllVm: A start.
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Sep 05, 2012 at 13:42 UTC

    For whom, mister anonymous?

    A simple example. A bug (exception fault) that arises from the interaction of LLVM, MSVC and a 40,000-line post preprocessed C-source. Compile the source to bitcode, feed it to one of their tools and it does a binary chop on the code, excluding bits of it -- in a code-aware manner -- until the trap doesn't occur. Put the bit back that contains the bug and remove other bits. Rinse and repeat until you've excluded everything that doesn't contribute to the trap.

    In less than 2 minutes, it reduces 40,000 lines of C, to 680 bytes of bitcode, that converted back amounts to about 12 lines of C. A simple, standalone testcase for further examination.

    With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
    Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
    "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
    In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

    RIP Neil Armstrong
[reply]
      That's pretty awesome. I've wanted something like that for Inline::C code for a while.
[reply]

      For whom, mister anonymous?

      For all the world :) I figured that asking for a proper how-to use one of those tools, was asking a bit much to ask

      But a peek at peek at your screen as you're doing what you do?

      Might be a nice demonstration, inspire other to try it...

      :)

[reply]

        I have neither the means nor inclination to produce a video, but see http://llvm.org/docs/Bugpoint.html

        With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
        Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
        "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
        In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

        RIP Neil Armstrong
[reply]

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