GNU lightning
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| Developer(s) | GNU Project |
|---|---|
| Initial release | January 19, 2001[1] |
| Repository | |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Platform | GNU |
| Type | Just-in-time compilation |
| License | GNU General Public License, GNU Lesser General Public License |
| Website | Official website |
GNU lightning is a free-software library for generating assembly language code at run-time. Version 2.0, released in August 2013, supports backends for SPARC (32-bit), x86 (32- and 64-bit), MIPS, ARM, ia64, HPPA and PowerPC (32-bit).[2]
Advantages over other libraries
The features GNU lightning provides make it useful for Just-in-Time Compilation. In comparison to libraries such as LLVM or libJIT, GNU lightning provides only a low-level interface for assembling from a standardized RISC assembly language—loosely based on the SPARC and MIPS architectures[3]—into the target architecture's machine language.
Disadvantages
It does not provide register allocation, data-flow or control-flow analysis, or optimization.
Instruction set
GNU lightning's instruction set is based loosely on existing RISC architectures.
Types
When required instructions handle data with these 9 types:
| Type | C equivalent |
|---|---|
| c | signed char |
| uc | unsigned char |
| s | short |
| us | unsigned short |
| i | int |
| ui | unsigned int |
| l | long |
| f | float |
| d | double |
Projects that use GNU lightning
Racket,[4] GNU Smalltalk,[5] GNU Guile,[6] and CLISP[7] make use of GNU lightning for just-in-time compilation. GNU lightning was first developed as a tool to be used in GNU Smalltalk's dynamic translator from bytecodes to native code.[8]
References
- ^ "ChangeLog". GNU Project. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ Release announcement. 2013-08-23
- ^ "Using and porting GNU lightning". Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ "Racket source code repository". Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- ^ "GNU Smalltalk project page". Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- ^ "Just-In-Time Native Code". Retrieved 2019-03-11.
- ^ "Implementation notes for GNU CLISP". Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "GNU lightning user manual, acknowledgements". Retrieved 2014-05-17.
External links
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