cpython/Tools/jit/README.md

The JIT Compiler
================

This version of CPython can be built with an experimental just-in-time compiler. While most everything you already know about building and using CPython is unchanged, you will probably need to install a compatible version of LLVM first.

## Installing LLVM

The JIT compiler does not require end users to install any third-party dependencies, but part of it must be *built* using LLVM[^why-llvm]. You are *not* required to build the rest of CPython using LLVM, or even the same version of LLVM (in fact, this is uncommon).

LLVM version 18 is required. Both `clang` and `llvm-readobj` need to be installed and discoverable (version suffixes, like `clang-18`, are okay). It's highly recommended that you also have `llvm-objdump` available, since this allows the build script to dump human-readable assembly for the generated code.

It's easy to install all of the required tools:

### Linux

Install LLVM 18 on Ubuntu/Debian:

```sh
wget https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh
chmod +x llvm.sh
sudo ./llvm.sh 18
```

Install LLVM 18 on Fedora Linux 40 or newer:

```sh
sudo dnf install 'clang(major) = 18' 'llvm(major) = 18'
```

### macOS

Install LLVM 18 with [Homebrew](https://brew.sh):

```sh
brew install llvm@18
```

Homebrew won't add any of the tools to your `$PATH`. That's okay; the build script knows how to find them.

### Windows

Install LLVM 18 [by searching for it on LLVM's GitHub releases page](https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/releases?q=18), clicking on "Assets", downloading the appropriate Windows installer for your platform (likely the file ending with `-win64.exe`), and running it. **When installing, be sure to select the option labeled "Add LLVM to the system PATH".**

### Dev Containers

If you are working CPython in a [Codespaces instance](https://devguide.python.org/getting-started/setup-building/#using-codespaces), there's no need to install LLVM as the Fedora 40 base image includes LLVM 18 out of the box.

## Building

For `PCbuild`-based builds, pass the new `--experimental-jit` option to `build.bat`.

For all other builds, pass the new `--enable-experimental-jit` option to `configure`.

Otherwise, just configure and build as you normally would. Cross-compiling "just works", since the JIT is built for the host platform.

[^why-llvm]: Clang is specifically needed because it's the only C compiler with support for guaranteed tail calls (`musttail`), which are required by CPython's continuation-passing-style approach to JIT compilation. Since LLVM also includes other functionalities we need (namely, object file parsing and disassembly), it's convenient to only support one toolchain at this time.