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LLVM VS Open Watcom

Compare LLVM VS Open Watcom and see what are their differences

LLVM logo LLVM

LLVM is a compiler infrastructure designed for compile-time, link-time, run-time, and...

Open Watcom logo Open Watcom

Open Watcom is a project of the open source community to maintain and enhance the Watcom C, C++, and Fortran cross compilers and tools.
  • LLVM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-11-06
  • Open Watcom Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-21

LLVM features and specs

  • Modularity
    LLVM is designed to be modular and flexible, allowing developers to utilize only the components they need for their specific tasks. This makes it versatile for a wide range of use cases.
  • Optimization
    LLVM provides advanced optimization techniques that allow for efficient code execution across various platforms. It utilizes a variety of standard and state-of-the-art optimization passes to improve performance.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    LLVM supports a wide range of architectures and platforms, enabling developers to build and deploy applications across multiple target environments without needing to make significant code changes.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    The LLVM project includes a wide array of tools and libraries, such as Clang and LLDB, that enhance development capabilities and provide comprehensive support for different programming languages.
  • Community and Industry Adoption
    LLVM has a robust and active community, along with backing from major technology companies. This means consistent updates, improvements, and a broad support network for troubleshooting and enhancements.

Possible disadvantages of LLVM

  • Complexity
    Due to its extensive feature set and flexibility, LLVM can be complex to understand and use, particularly for newcomers who may find its detailed API and documentation challenging.
  • Resource Intensive
    The advanced optimizations and capabilities provided by LLVM can require significant compute resources, which might not be suitable for all systems or use cases, particularly those with limited capabilities.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    LLVM's power and flexibility come with a steep learning curve, demanding a strong understanding of compiler design and architecture to fully leverage its potential.
  • Limited Legacy Support
    While LLVM supports many modern architectures, its focus on newer platforms means that it may offer limited functionality for legacy systems or older processor architectures.
  • Lack of High-Level Language Features
    LLVM is primarily focused on compiler and intermediate representation infrastructure, which means that it does not provide some high-level language features or abstractions unless provided by front-end tools.

Open Watcom features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

LLVM videos

Interview with LLVM Foundation President Tanya Lattner

More videos:

  • Review - [COSCUP2021] A trip about how I contribute to LLVM
  • Review - Introduction to LLVM Building simple program analysis tools and instrumentation

Open Watcom videos

2017-11-12 -- Hello World for Windows 9x-XP-7 with Open Watcom C

More videos:

  • Review - Integration of Open Watcom C++ compiler for ScaLib BDP project ( VTR-038 )

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to LLVM and Open Watcom)
IDE
82 82%
18% 18
Email Marketing
80 80%
20% 20
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
CRM
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using LLVM and Open Watcom. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, LLVM seems to be a lot more popular than Open Watcom. While we know about 55 links to LLVM, we've tracked only 2 mentions of Open Watcom. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

LLVM mentions (55)

  • macOS Sequoia is certified to Unix 03
    Apple has made some substantial open source contributions. - LLVM - https://llvm.org/ - They are the stewards of CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) - https://www.cups.org/ - Darwin kernel is open source - https://github.com/apple-oss-distributions/xnu. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Why you should keep an eye on Apache DataFusion and its community.
    Similarly, LLVM revolutionized the world of programming languages and compilers. Since its creation, we've seen many new languages being created of increased complexity. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Yes, Ruby is fast, but…
    In conclusion, none of the proposed changes to the Ruby version of the code makes a dent in the Crystal version. This is not entirely Crystal's doing: it uses the LLVM backend, which generates very optimized binaries. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Playing with DragonRuby Game Toolkit (DRGTK)
    This Ruby implementation is based on mruby and LLVM and it’s commercial software but cheap. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Which books/resources to understand modern Assembler?
    'Computer Architeture: A Quantitative Apporach" and/or more specific design types (mips, arm, etc) can be found under the Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architeture and Design. "Getting Started with LLVM Core Libraries: Get to Grips With Llvm Essentials and Use the Core Libraries to Build Advanced Tools " "The Architecture of Open Source Applications (Volume 1) : LLVM" https://aosabook.org/en/v1/llvm.html... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
View more

Open Watcom mentions (2)

  • Revisiting Borland Turbo C/C++, A Great IDE back in the 90s – CodeProject
    Https://web.archive.org/web/20230315024557/http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/ntvdmx64.html Or just run dosbox for full and isolated emulation. Full circle, there's also djgpp and openwatcom for semi-modern retro development. https://www.delorie.com/djgpp https://openwatcom.org I collect retro compilers, programming books, software, and hardware. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • I want to start learning how to program DOS games
    I recommend using Open Watcom, particularly the Open Watcom V2 fork, to target 32-bit protected mode DOS, rather than 16-bit real mode. Source: about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing LLVM and Open Watcom, you can also consider the following products

clang - C, C++, Objective C and Objective C++ front-end for the LLVM compiler.

GNU Compiler Collection - The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting...

Tiny C Compiler - The Tiny C Compiler is an x86, x86-64 and ARM processor C compiler created by Fabrice Bellard.

Portable C Compiler - pcc is a C99 compiler which aims to be small, simple, fast and understandable.

NASM - The Netwide Assembler, NASM, is an 80x86 and x86-64 assembler designed for portability and...

Yasm - Yasm is a complete rewrite of the NASM assembler.