Modules

Although they conceptually represent the same thing, modules in the IR layer and modules in the binding layer do not have the same roles and do not expose the same API.

While modules in the IR layer allow you to build and group functions together, modules in the binding layer give access to compilation, linking and execution of code. To distinguish between them, the module class in the binding layer is called ModuleRef as opposed to llvmlite.ir.Module.

To go from the IR layer to the binding layer, use the parse_assembly() function.

Factory functions

You can create a module from the following factory functions:

  • llvmlite.binding.parse_assembly(llvmir, context=None)

    Parse the given llvmir, a string containing some LLVM IR code. If parsing is successful, a new ModuleRef instance is returned.

    • context: an instance of LLVMContextRef.

      Defaults to the global context.

    EXAMPLE: You can obtain llvmir by calling str() on an llvmlite.ir.Module object.

  • llvmlite.binding.parse_bitcode(bitcode, context=None)

    Parse the given bitcode, a bytestring containing the LLVM bitcode of a module. If parsing is successful, a new ModuleRef instance is returned.

    • context: an instance of LLVMContextRef.

      Defaults to the global context.

    EXAMPLE: You can obtain the bitcode by calling ModuleRef.as_bitcode().

The ModuleRef class

class llvmlite.binding.ModuleRef

A wrapper around an LLVM module object. The following methods and properties are available:

  • as_bitcode()

    Return the bitcode of this module as a bytes object.

  • get_function(name)

    Get the function with the given name in this module.

    If found, a ValueRef is returned. Otherwise, NameError is raised.

  • get_global_variable(name)

    Get the global variable with the given name in this module.

    If found, a ValueRef is returned. Otherwise, NameError is raised.

  • get_struct_type(name)

    Get the struct type with the given name in this module.

    If found, a TypeRef is returned. Otherwise, NameError is raised.

  • Link the other module into this module, resolving references wherever possible.

    • If preserve is True, the other module is first copied in order to preserve its contents.

    • If preserve is False, the other module is not usable after this call.

  • verify()

    Verify the module’s correctness. On error, raise RuntimeError.

  • data_layout

    The data layout string for this module. This attribute can be set.

  • functions

    An iterator over the functions defined in this module. Each function is a ValueRef instance.

  • global_variables

    An iterator over the global variables defined in this module. Each global variable is a ValueRef instance.

  • struct_types

    An iterator over the struct types defined in this module. Each type is a TypeRef instance.

  • name

    The module’s identifier, as a string. This attribute can be set.

  • source_file

    The module’s reported source file, as a string. This attribute can not be set.

  • triple

    The platform “triple” string for this module. This attribute can be set.