Notes: LLVM IR

[jbenet]

(noting down old topic)

• use LLVM IR inside a special datastructure in the merkledag
• can ship programs and compile them in target archs, or compile in future as new archs are available
• but can also use LLVM IR to _encode the data_ itself (to approach kolmogorov complexity)
• can use this to emulate systems and formats, and fight Digital Vellum
• this is in the vein of https://github.com/BrendanBenshoof/StackStream but with LLVM
• Google and Apple both use LLVM IR to ship code to tons of platforms. Well established.

[sargun]

LLVM IR isn't super portable. Why not start with something higher level, like NaCl (https://developer.chrome.com/native-client), or Javascript?

[jbenet]

• js is a separate thing-- we could have both LLVM IR and js.
• LLVM IR might be more portable today than even the web (wow!)
• As for NaCl (and PNaCl), sure-- but we should make than explicit choice. i don't understand this problem space well enough to be confident that we _need_ NaCl straight up-- (though of course the NaCl sandbox is good to have)

[Kubuxu]

Maybe we should think about WebAssembly. It is designed by people that created asm.js and PNaCl.

Problem with LLVM IR it is that it requires big toolchain to compile to native, IDK if there is small interpreter.

Also in their FAQ there is an answer about using LLVM IR: https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/FAQ.md

[jbenet]

yes :+1: for WebAssembly.