# Copyright (C) 2001-2006, The Perl Foundation.
# $Id: jit.pod 12981 2006-06-20 19:26:31Z bernhard $
=head1 NAME
docs/jit.pod - Parrot JIT Subsystem
=head1 ABSTRACT
This PDD describes the Parrot Just In Time compilation subsystem.
=head1 DESCRIPTION
The Just In Time, or JIT, subsystem converts a bytecode file to native machine
code instructions and executes the generated instruction sequence directly.
=head1 IMPLEMENTATION
Currently works on B<ALPHA>, B<Arm>, B<Intel x86>, B<PPC>, and B<SPARC version
8> processor systems, on most operating systems. Currently only 32-bit INTVALs
are supported.
The initial step in generating native code is to invoke B<Parrot_jit_begin>,
which generally provides architecture specific preamble code. For each parrot
opcode in the bytecode, either a generic or opcode specific sequence of native
code is generated. The F<.jit> files provide functions that generate native
code for specific opcode functions, for a given instruction set architecture.
If a function is not provided for a specific opcode, a generic sequence of
native code is output which calls the interpreter C function that implements
the opcode. Such opcode are handled by B<Parrot_jit_normal_op>.
If the opcode can cause a control flow change, as in the case of a branch or
call opcode, an extended or modified version of this generic code is used that
tracks changes in the bytecode program counter with changes in the hardware
program counter. This type of opcode is handled by B<Parrot_jit_cpcf_op>.
While generating native code, certain offsets and absolute addresses may not be
available. This occurs with forward opcode branches, as the native code
corresponding to the branch target has not yet been generated. On some
platforms, function calls are performed using program-counter relative
addresses. Since the location of the buffer holding the native code may move
as code is generated (due to growing of the buffer), these relative addresses
may only be calculated once the buffer is guaranteed to no longer move. To
handle these instances, the JIT subsystem uses "fixups", which record locations
in native code where adjustments to the native code are required.
=head1 FILES
=over 4
=item jit/${jitcpuarch}/jit_emit.h
This file defines B<Parrot_jit_begin>, B<Parrot_jit_dofixup>,
B<Parrot_jit_normal_op>, B<Parrot_jit_cpcf_op>, B<Parrot_jit_restart_op> and
optionally B<Parrot_jit_vtable*_op>. In addition, this file defines the macros
and static functions used in F<.jit> files to produce binary representations of
native instructions.
For moving registers from processor to parrot and vice versa, the
B<Parrot_jit_emit_mov*> functions have to be implemented.
=item jit/${jitcpuarch}/core.jit
The functions to generate native code for core parrot opcodes are specified
here. To simplify the maintenance of these functions, they are specified in a
format that is pre-processed by F<jit2c.pl> to produce a valid C source file,
F<jit_cpu.c>. See L<Format of .jit Files> below.
=item src/jit.h
This file contains definitions of generic structures used by the JIT subsystem.
The B<op_jit> array of B<jit_fn_info_t> structures, provides for each opcode, a
pointer to the function that generates native code for the opcode, whether the
generic B<Parrot_jit_normal_op> or B<Parrot_jit_cpcf_op> functions or an opcode
specific function. B<Parrot_jit_restart_op> is like B<Parrot_jit_cpcf_op> with
the addition to check for a zero program counter. The B<Parrot_jit_vtable*_op>
functions are defined as B<Parrot_jit_normal_op> or B<Parrot_jit_cpcf_op> and
may be implemented to do native vtable calls (s. F<jit/i386/jit_emit.h> for an
example).
The B<Parrot_jit_fixup> structure records the offset in native code where a
fixup must be applied, the type of fixup required and the specific information
needed to perform the parameters of the fixup. Currently, a fixup parameter is
either an B<opcode_t> value or a function pointer.
The B<Parrot_jit_info> structure holds data used while producing and executing
native code. An important piece of data in this structure is the B<op_map>
array, which maps from opcode addresses to native code addresses.
=item src/jit.c
B<parrot_build_asm>() is the main routine of the code generator, which loops
over the parrot bytecode, calling the code generating routines for each opcode
while filling in the B<op_map> array. This array is used by the JIT subsystem
to perform certain types of fixups on native code, as well as by the native
code itself to convert bytecode program counters values (opcode_t *'s) to
hardware program counter values.
The bytecode is considered an array of B<opcode_t> sized elements, with
parallel entries in B<op_map>. B<op_map> is initially populated with the
offsets into the native code corresponding to the opcodes in the bytecode. Once
code generation is complete and fixups have been applied, the native code
offsets are converted to absolute addresses. This trades the low up-front cost
of converting all offsets once, for the unknown cost of repeatedly converting
these offsets while executing native code.
See F<src/jit/skeleton/jit_emit.h> for details.
=item tools/build/jit2c.pl
Preprocesses the .jit files to produce F<jit_cpu.c>.
=back
=head1 Defines in jit_emit.h
The architecture specific F<jit_emit.h> file communicates some defines and
tables with F<jit.c> and F<languages/imcc/imc.c>. The structure of the file and
the defines must therefore follow a specific syntax.
=head2 Overall structure
#if JIT_EMIT
... emit code
#else
... defines
static const jit_arch_info arch_info = {
... initialization of maps
... and possibly private static functions
}
#endif
See F<src/jit/skeleton/jit_emit.h> for a more detailed explanation.
=head2 Defines
XXX most are moved into C<jit_arch_info> now.
=over 4
=item INT_REGISTERS_TO_MAP
This is the amount of integer registers to be mapped to processor registers.
The corresponding B<intval_map[]> has to have exactly this amount of register
numbers. A register with the value of zero can not be in the list.
=item FLOAT_REGISTERS_TO_MAP
When this is defined, it works like above for floating point registers.
=item PRESERVED_INT_REGS
When this is defined, it's the amount of integer registers, that are preserved
over function calls. These preserved registers have to be first in
B<intval_map>. When this is not defined, it is assumed that B<all> registers
are preserved over function calls.
=item PRESERVED_FLOAT_REGS
Same for floating point registers.
=item jit_emit_noop(pc)
=item JUMP_ALIGN
If these are defined, B<JUMP_ALIGN> should be a small number stating the
desired alignment of jump targets is B<1 << JUMP_ALIGN>. The B<jit_emit_noop>
gets called with the unaligned B<pc> repeatedly, until the B<pc> has the
desired alignment. So the function can either emit a one byte B<noop>
instruction, or a B<noop> like instruction (sequence) with the desired size, to
achieve the necessary padding. The emitted code must not have any side
effects.
=item ALLOCATE_REGISTERS_PER_SECTION
Normally F<jit.c> does register allocation per section, but there is a somewhat
experimental feature, to allocate registers per basic block.
=item MAP
Jit code generated by the F<imcc> JIT optimizer used negative numbers for
mapped registers and positive numbers for non mapped parrot registers. To use
this feature, the definition of mapped registers can be redefined like so:
#define MAP(i) OMAP(i)
#undef MAP
#define MAP(i) (i) >= 0 ? 0 : OMAP(i)
=item Parrot_jit_emit_get_base_reg_no(pc)
This macro should return the register number of the register
base pointer.
=back
See F<src/jit/i386/jit_emit.h> for actual usage of these defines.
=head1 Format of .jit Files
Jit files are interpreted as follows:
=over 4
=item I<op-name> { \n I<body> \n }
Where I<op-name> is the name of the Parrot opcode, and I<body> consists of C
syntax code which may contain any of the identifiers listed in the following
section.
The closing curly brace has to be in the first column.
=item Comment lines
Comments are marked with a I<;> in the first column. These and empty lines are
ignored.
=item Identifiers
In general, prefixing an identifier with I<&> yields an address. The I<*>
prefix specifies a value. Since Parrot register values vary during code
execution, their values can not be obtained through identifier substitution
alone, therefore offsets are used for accessing registers.
To obtain register offsets, a set of macros exists, that have C<OFFS> in
their names:
B<REG_OFFS_INT(reg_no)> ...
B<ROFFS_INT(n)> ...
B<INT_CONST[n]>
Gets replaced by the C<INTVAL> constant specified in the I<n>th argument.
B<NUM_CONST[n]>
Gets replaced by the C<FLOATVAL> constant specified in the I<n>th argument.
B<MAP[n]>
The I<n>th integer or floating processor register, mapped in this section.
Note: The register with the physical number zero can not be mapped.
=begin unimp
B<STRING_CONST_strstart[n]>
Gets replaced by C<strstart> of the C<STRING> constant specified in the I<n>th
argument.
B<STRING_CONST_buflen[n]>
Gets replaced by C<buflen> of the C<STRING> constant specified in the I<n>th
argument.
B<STRING_CONST_flags[n]>
Gets replaced by C<flags> of the C<STRING> constant specified in the I<n>th
argument.
B<STRING_CONST_strlen[n]>
Gets replaced by C<strlen> of the C<STRING> constant specified in the I<n>th
argument.
B<STRING_CONST_encoding[n]>
Gets replaced by C<encoding> of the C<STRING> constant specified in the I<n>th
argument.
B<STRING_CONST_type[n]>
Gets replaced by C<type> of the C<STRING> constant specified in the I<n>th
argument.
B<STRING_CONST_language[n]>
Gets replaced by C<language> of the C<STRING> constant specified in the I<n>th
argument.
=end unimp
B<NATIVECODE>
Gets replaced by the current native program counter.
B<*CUR_OPCODE[n]>
Gets replaced by the address of the current opcode in the Parrot bytecode.
B<ISRn> B<FSRn>
The I<n>th integer or floating point scratch register.
=item B<TEMPLATE> I<template-name> { \n I<body> \n }
Defines a template for similar functions, e.g. all the binary ops taking three
variable parameters.
=item I<template-name> I<perl-subst> ...
Take a template and do all substitutions to generate the implementation for
this jit function.
Example:
TEMPLATE Parrot_set_x_ic {
if (MAP[1]) {
jit_emit_mov_ri<_N>(NATIVECODE, MAP[1], <typ>_CONST[2]);
}
else {
jit_emit_mov_mi<_N>(NATIVECODE, &INT_REG[1], <typ>_CONST[2]);
}
}
Parrot_set_i_ic {
Parrot_set_x_ic s/<_N>/_i/ s/<typ>/*INT/
}
Parrot_set_n_ic {
Parrot_set_x_ic s/<_N>/_ni/ s/<typ>/&INT/ s/INT_R/NUM_R/
}
The jit function B<Parrot_set_i_ic> is based on the template
B<Parrot_set_x_ic>, the I<s/x/y/> are substitutions on the template body, to
generate the actual function body. These substitutions are done before the
other substitutions.
s. F<jit/i386/core.jit> for more.
=back
=head2 Naming convention for jit_emit functions
To make it easier to share F<core.jit> files between machines of similar
architecture, the jit_emit functions B<should> follow this syntax:
jit_emit_I<<op>>_I<<args>>_I<<type>>
=over 4
=item I<<op>>
This is the operation like B<mov>, B<add> or B<bxor>. In normal cases this is
the PASM name of the op.
=item I<<args>>
B<args> specify the arguments of the function in the PASM sequence B<dest>,
B<source> ... The B<args> consist of one letter per argument:
=over 4
=item B<r>
A mapped processor register.
=item B<m>
A memory operand, the address of the parrot register.
=item B<i>
An immediate operand, i.e. an integer constant.
=back
=item I<<type>>
Specifies if this operation works on integer or floating point arguments. If
all arguments are of the same type, only one type specifier is needed.
=over 4
=item B<i>
An integer argument
=item B<n>
A float argument.
=back
Examples:
=over 4
=item B<jit_emit_sub_rm_i>
Subtract integer at memory from integer processor register.
=item B<jit_emit_mov_ri_ni>
Move integer constant (immediate) to floating point register.
=back
=back
=head1 ALPHA Notes
The access to Parrot registers is done relative to C<$6>, all other memory
access is done relative to C<$27>, to access float constants relative to C<$7>
so you must preside the instruction with I<ldah $7,0($27)>.
=head1 i386 Notes
Only 32 bit INTVALs are supported. Long double FLOATVALs are ok.
There are four mapped integer registers B<%edi>, B<%esi>, B<%ecx>, and B<%edx>.
The first 2 of these are callee saved, they preserve their value around extern
function calls.
Four floating point operations the registers B<ST1> ... B<ST4> are mapped and
considered as preserved over function calls.
The register C<%ebx> holds the register frame pointer.
=head1 EXAMPLE
Let's see how this works:
B<Parrot Assembly:>
set I0,8
set I2,I0
print I2
end
B<Parrot Bytecode:> (only the bytecode segment is shown)
+--------------------------------------+
| 73 | 0 | 8 | 72 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 0 |
+-|------------|------------|--------|-+
| | | |
| | | +----------- end (no arguments)
| | +-------------------- print_i (1 argument)
| +--------------------------------- set_i_i (2 arguments)
+---------------------------------------------- set_i_ic (2 arguments)
Please note that the opcode numbers used might have already changed. Also
generated assembly code might be different.
B<Intel x86 assembly version of the Parrot ops:>
B<Parrot_jit_begin>
0x817ddd0 <jit_func>: push %ebp
0x817ddd1 <jit_func+1>: mov %esp,%ebp
0x817ddd3 <jit_func+3>: push %ebx
0x817ddd4 <jit_func+4>: push %esi
0x817ddd5 <jit_func+5>: push %edi
normal function header till here, now push interpreter
0x817ddd6 <jit_func+6>: push $0x8164420
get jit function table to %ebp and
jump to first instruction
0x817dddb <jit_func+11>: mov 0xc(%ebp),%eax
0x817ddde <jit_func+14>: mov $0x81773f0,%ebp
0x817dde3 <jit_func+19>: sub $0x81774a8,%eax
0x817dde9 <jit_func+25>: jmp *%ds:0x0(%ebp,%eax,1)
B<set_i_ic>
0x817ddee <jit_func+30>: mov $0x8,%edi
B<set_i_i>
0x817ddf3 <jit_func+35>: mov %edi,%ebx
B<Parrot_jit_save_registers>
0x817ddf5 <jit_func+37>: mov %edi,0x8164420
0x817ddfb <jit_func+43>: mov %ebx,0x8164428
B<Parrot_jit_normal_op>
0x817de01 <jit_func+49>: push $0x81774c0
0x817de06 <jit_func+54>: call 0x804be00 <Parrot_print_i>
0x817de0b <jit_func+59>: add $0x4,%esp
B<Parrot_jit_end>
0x817de0e <jit_func+62>: add $0x4,%esp
0x817de14 <jit_func+68>: pop %edi
0x817de16 <jit_func+70>: pop %ebx
0x817de18 <jit_func+72>: pop %esi
0x817de1a <jit_func+74>: pop %ebp
0x817de1c <jit_func+76>: ret
Please note the reverse argument direction. PASM and JIT notations use
I<dest,src,src>, while F<gdb> and the internal macros in F<jit_emit.h> have
I<src,dest>.
=head1 Debugging
Above listing was generated by F<gdb>, the GNU debugger, with a little help
from Parrot_jit_debug, which generates a symbol file in I<stabs> format, s.
B<info stabs> for more (or less :-()
The following script calls F<ddd> (the graphic debugger fronted) and attaches
the symbol file, after it got built in F<parrot_build_asm>.
# dddp
# run ddd parrot with given file
# gdb confirmations should be off
parrot -o $1.pbc -d1 $1.pasm
echo "b runops_jit
r -D4 -j $1.pbc
n
add-symbol-file $1.o 0
s
" > .ddd
ddd --command .ddd parrot &
Run this with e.g. I<dddp t/op/jit_2>, then turn on the register status,
I<step> or I<nexti> through the source, or set break points as with any other
language.
You can examine parrot registers via the debugger or even set them and you can
always step into external opcode and look at I<*interpreter>.
The tests F<t/op/jit*.t> have some test cases for testing register allocation.
These tests are written for a mapping of 4 processor registers. If your
processor architecture has more mapped registers, reduce them to 4 and run
these tests.
=head2 Example for a debug session
$ cat j.pasm
set I0, 10
set N1, 1.1
set S2, "abc"
print "\n"
end
$ dddp j
(ddd shows above source code and assembly (startup code snipped):
0x815de46 <jit_func+30>: mov $0xa,%ebx
0x815de4b <jit_func+35>: fldl 0x81584c0
0x815de51 <jit_func+41>: fstp %st(2)
0x815de53 <jit_func+43>: mov %ebx,0x8158098
0x815de59 <jit_func+49>: fld %st(1)
0x815de5b <jit_func+51>: fstpl 0x8158120
0x815de61 <jit_func+57>: push $0x815cd90
0x815de66 <jit_func+62>: call 0x804db90 <Parrot_set_s_sc>
0x815de6b <jit_func+67>: add $0x4,%esp
0x815de6e <jit_func+70>: push $0x815cd9c
0x815de73 <jit_func+75>: call 0x804bcd0 <Parrot_print_sc>
0x815de78 <jit_func+80>: add $0x4,%esp
0x815de7b <jit_func+83>: add $0x4,%esp
0x815de81 <jit_func+89>: pop %edi
0x815de83 <jit_func+91>: pop %ebx
0x815de85 <jit_func+93>: pop %esi
0x815de87 <jit_func+95>: pop %ebp
0x815de89 <jit_func+97>: ret
(gdb) n
(gdb) n
(gdb) n
(gdb) p I0
$1 = 10
(gdb) p N1
$2 = 1.1000000000000001
(gdb) p *S2
$3 = {bufstart = 0x815ad30, buflen = 15, flags = 336128, bufused =
3, strstart = 0x815ad30 "abc"}
(gdb) p &I0
$4 = (INTVAL *) 0x8158098
XXX (p)rinting register contents like shown above is currently not supported.
=head1 SEE ALSO
F<docs/dev/jit_i386.pod>, F<jit/skeleton/jit_emit.h>
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