TclQuadcode
===========
This is a project to develop a compiler for Tcl that produces native
code. It does this by translating Tcl code into bytecode, then into
quadcode (hence the project's name). That quadcode is analysed and
optimized, then translated into [LLVM Intermediate
Representation](http://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html), from which native
code is issued.
Dependencies
-----------
This requires Tcl 8.6, and
[llvmtcl](https://github.com/dkfellows/llvmtcl).
Usage
-----
Write some procedures. Load the code in `quadcode.tcl` and
`codegen.tcl` in this directory (note that this is not yet a proper
package). Now you have the **LLVM** command:
* **LLVM configure** _options..._
Configures LLVM. Useful options are -debug, -opt and -time.
* **-debug** _boolean_ -- Whether to print debugging information.
Off by default.
* **-opt** _int_ -- Number of optimization rounds to run.
* **-time** _int_ -- The level to perform timing analysis at. Level
0 turns it off. Level 1 is coarse-grained. Level 2 is
detailed.
* **LLVM optimise** _procs..._
Compiles each of the listed procedures (each name is a separate
argument). This is the core of this project. The collection of
procedures will become a single package (in a Tcl **load** sense)
that is compiled. Note that you can use command globs as well;
internally, everything is passed through **info commands**.
* **LLVM pre**
Returns the LLVM IR generated from the most recent compilation,
taken at the point where the IR was about to be fed into the
optimizer.
* **LLVM post**
Returns the LLVM IR generated from the most recent compilation,
taken after the code was optimized. This is the code that is
actually used to drive native code issuing.
If you want to just test-drive the code, check out the `demo.tcl`
script in this directory. It's our current driver and exercises most
of the currently-implemented features. There's also a `smalldemo.tcl`
that is a cut-down version.