On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 1:37 PM Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > This change adds build system support for Clang's Link Time > Optimization (LTO). With -flto, instead of ELF object files, Clang > produces LLVM bitcode, which is compiled into native code at link > time, allowing the final binary to be optimized globally. For more > details, see: > > https://llvm.org/docs/LinkTimeOptimization.html > > The Kconfig option CONFIG_LTO_CLANG is implemented as a choice, > which defaults to LTO being disabled. To use LTO, the architecture > must select ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG and support: > > - compiling with Clang, > - compiling inline assembly with Clang's integrated assembler, > - and linking with LLD. > > While using full LTO results in the best runtime performance, the > compilation is not scalable in time or memory. CONFIG_THINLTO > enables ThinLTO, which allows parallel optimization and faster > incremental builds. ThinLTO is used by default if the architecture > also selects ARCH_SUPPORTS_THINLTO: > > https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThinLTO.html > > To enable LTO, LLVM tools must be used to handle bitcode files. The > easiest way is to pass the LLVM=1 option to make: > > $ make LLVM=1 defconfig > $ scripts/config -e LTO_CLANG > $ make LLVM=1 > > Alternatively, at least the following LLVM tools must be used: > > CC=clang LD=ld.lld AR=llvm-ar NM=llvm-nm > > To prepare for LTO support with other compilers, common parts are > gated behind the CONFIG_LTO option, and LTO can be disabled for > specific files by filtering out CC_FLAGS_LTO. > > Signed-off-by: Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@xxxxxxxxxx> > Reviewed-by: Kees Cook <keescook@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Reviewed-by: Nick Desaulniers <ndesaulniers@xxxxxxxxxx> -- Thanks, ~Nick Desaulniers