5 ms·

LLVM backend for m88k architecture

59 points by fcambus 4y ago

CalChris 4y ago
It looks like a pretty sophisticated GISel implementation, native without any DAGISel fallback. Pretty cool. They should probably email Chris Lattner for an ELF.h EM_xxx number even if they don't submit it. I like it.
- fweimer 4y ago
  EM_88K is already defined as 5.
ninefathom 4y ago
Oh my... might have to go dig out my MVME187 and the VME cabinet. Or maybe I'll just fire up gxemul. Tough call. Either way, very nifty. Thanks for sharing!
neilv 4y ago
On a tangent, but the first m88k computer I recall hearing about was the Data General AViiON, which they advertised as "mainframe in a pizza box". Looking for a copy of the ad just now, I found a neat writeup by the person who says they came up with it: http://www.georgelois.com/data-general.html http://www.georgelois.com/data-general.html
- doctor_eval 4y ago
  I used to work on AViiON and I loved it. DG/UX was awesome.
arunc 4y ago
Kai is also a core contributor to LDC, a LLVM based compiler for D.
kristopolous 4y ago
Out of curiosity, is this purely enthusiast and hobbyist or do people do this for more than recreation? Maybe there's say, large industrial machines (think like an oil refinery), infrastructure level computers (think the elevators of a skyscraper built in the 90s) or say, shipping vessels stuck with these chips and this is actually the cheapest solution, I have no idea. It looks like the end of the line here was the MC88110 in 1992. Don't get me wrong, hobby away, I'm just curious if there's any production reason for this.
cbmuser 4y ago
I wonder whether this project is based on the work in our M68k backend: > https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/tree/main/llvm/lib/Target/M68k https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/tree/main/llvm/lib/Targ...
dark-star 4y ago
I wonder if LLVM is more open for keeping support for ancient systems like this in-tree than gcc. I know a few people working on an LLVM backend for SGI MIPS CPUs, for example. As I understand it, keeping an LLVM backend updated with the main compiler is far less work than keeping a GCC backend up-to-date, so the burden for supporting exotic/ancient systems is much lower
- orra 4y ago
  > I wonder if LLVM is more open for keeping support for ancient systems like this in-tree than gcc. Maybe things have changed, but I got the opposite impression from previous discussions, around Rust portability.

59 points by fcambus 4y ago

It looks like a pretty sophisticated GISel implementation, native without any DAGISel fallback. Pretty cool. They should probably email Chris Lattner for an ELF.h EM_xxx number even if they don't submit it. I like it.

fweimer 4y ago
EM_88K is already defined as 5.

ninefathom 4y ago

Oh my... might have to go dig out my MVME187 and the VME cabinet. Or maybe I'll just fire up gxemul. Tough call. Either way, very nifty. Thanks for sharing!

neilv 4y ago

On a tangent, but the first m88k computer I recall hearing about was the Data General AViiON, which they advertised as "mainframe in a pizza box". Looking for a copy of the ad just now, I found a neat writeup by the person who says they came up with it: http://www.georgelois.com/data-general.html http://www.georgelois.com/data-general.html

doctor_eval 4y ago
I used to work on AViiON and I loved it. DG/UX was awesome.

arunc 4y ago

Kai is also a core contributor to LDC, a LLVM based compiler for D.

kristopolous 4y ago

Out of curiosity, is this purely enthusiast and hobbyist or do people do this for more than recreation? Maybe there's say, large industrial machines (think like an oil refinery), infrastructure level computers (think the elevators of a skyscraper built in the 90s) or say, shipping vessels stuck with these chips and this is actually the cheapest solution, I have no idea. It looks like the end of the line here was the MC88110 in 1992. Don't get me wrong, hobby away, I'm just curious if there's any production reason for this.

cbmuser 4y ago

I wonder whether this project is based on the work in our M68k backend: > https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/tree/main/llvm/lib/Target/M68k https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/tree/main/llvm/lib/Targ...

dark-star 4y ago

I wonder if LLVM is more open for keeping support for ancient systems like this in-tree than gcc. I know a few people working on an LLVM backend for SGI MIPS CPUs, for example. As I understand it, keeping an LLVM backend updated with the main compiler is far less work than keeping a GCC backend up-to-date, so the burden for supporting exotic/ancient systems is much lower

orra 4y ago
> I wonder if LLVM is more open for keeping support for ancient systems like this in-tree than gcc. Maybe things have changed, but I got the opposite impression from previous discussions, around Rust portability.