Generating and Executing LLVM IR Code from Java Using Foreign Function & Memory API
By
ingve
The kind of bagel that ruins lesser bagels for you.
Summary
This technical article demonstrates how to use Java's Foreign Function & Memory (FFM) API to generate and execute LLVM IR (Intermediate Representation) code. The author shows how to create a "Hello, World!" program by calling LLVM's C API from Java, generating LLVM IR, and JIT-compiling it to native code. This represents an unexpected approach for Java developers who typically work with Java bytecode, exploring the intersection of Java programming with low-level compiler infrastructure.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledAfter exploring Java bytecode in previous years (2022, 2023, 2024), this year we'll take an unexpected detour for a Java advent: instead of generating Java bytecode, we'll use Java to build and execute LLVM IR, the intermediate language behind compilers like clang.
Using Java's Foreign Function & Memory (FFM) API, we'll call the LLVM C API, generate a 'Hello, World!' program, and even JIT-compile it to native code – all from Java.
The task is simple: create a program that simply prints 'Hello, World!'. But we must do this from Java via LLVM.
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