Feature Description

The Plug-IN (PIN) framework helps develop plug-ins once but apply to multiple compilers, thereby reducing development costs for developers. As a development platform, it also supports and maintains common capabilities. PIN uses the proxy mode and consists of two key components: server and client. The PIN server bears the plug-in logic and enables developers to develop plug-ins based on the relatively neutral MLIR and a series of plug-in APIs, allowing developers to focus on designing the plug-in logic. The server connects to clients of different compilers, transfers intermediate representations (IRs) and operation instructions through cross-process communication, converts and maps plug-in logic, and executes the logic on the client compiler. In this way, one piece of code can be implemented on multiple compilers.

Plug-in users only need to download the library file and verification file of the required plug-in and enable the plug-in on the compiler client through the PIN configuration file. The PIN client is loaded as a GCC/LLVM plug-in. New functions can be implemented without modifying the source code of the GCC compiler. In this way, users can use the plug-in more flexibly while enjoying various common capabilities supported and maintained by PIN.