github.com/amarpal/go-tools@v0.0.0-20240422043104-40142f59f616/go/ir/doc.go

// Copyright 2013 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.

// Package ir defines a representation of the elements of Go programs
// (packages, types, functions, variables and constants) using a
// static single-information (SSI) form intermediate representation
// (IR) for the bodies of functions.
//
// THIS INTERFACE IS EXPERIMENTAL AND IS LIKELY TO CHANGE.
//
// For an introduction to SSA form, upon which SSI builds, see
// https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_single_assignment_form.
// This page provides a broader reading list:
// https://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~jsinger/ssa.html.
//
// For an introduction to SSI form, see The static single information
// form by C. Scott Ananian.
//
// The level of abstraction of the IR form is intentionally close to
// the source language to facilitate construction of source analysis
// tools.  It is not intended for machine code generation.
//
// The simplest way to create the IR of a package is
// to load typed syntax trees using golang.org/x/tools/go/packages, then
// invoke the irutil.Packages helper function. See ExampleLoadPackages
// and ExampleWholeProgram for examples.
// The resulting ir.Program contains all the packages and their
// members, but IR code is not created for function bodies until a
// subsequent call to (*Package).Build or (*Program).Build.
//
// The builder initially builds a naive IR form in which all local
// variables are addresses of stack locations with explicit loads and
// stores.  Registerization of eligible locals and φ-node insertion
// using dominance and dataflow are then performed as a second pass
// called "lifting" to improve the accuracy and performance of
// subsequent analyses; this pass can be skipped by setting the
// NaiveForm builder flag.
//
// The primary interfaces of this package are:
//
//   - Member: a named member of a Go package.
//   - Value: an expression that yields a value.
//   - Instruction: a statement that consumes values and performs computation.
//   - Node: a Value or Instruction (emphasizing its membership in the IR value graph)
//
// A computation that yields a result implements both the Value and
// Instruction interfaces.  The following table shows for each
// concrete type which of these interfaces it implements.
//
//	                   Value?          Instruction?    Member?
//	*Alloc                ✔               ✔
//	*BinOp                ✔               ✔
//	*BlankStore                           ✔
//	*Builtin              ✔
//	*Call                 ✔               ✔
//	*ChangeInterface      ✔               ✔
//	*ChangeType           ✔               ✔
//	*Const                ✔               ✔
//	*Convert              ✔               ✔
//	*DebugRef                             ✔
//	*Defer                ✔               ✔
//	*Extract              ✔               ✔
//	*Field                ✔               ✔
//	*FieldAddr            ✔               ✔
//	*FreeVar              ✔
//	*Function             ✔                               ✔ (func)
//	*Global               ✔                               ✔ (var)
//	*Go                   ✔               ✔
//	*If                                   ✔
//	*Index                ✔               ✔
//	*IndexAddr            ✔               ✔
//	*Jump                                 ✔
//	*Load                 ✔               ✔
//	*MakeChan             ✔               ✔
//	*MakeClosure          ✔               ✔
//	*MakeInterface        ✔               ✔
//	*MakeMap              ✔               ✔
//	*MakeSlice            ✔               ✔
//	*MapLookup            ✔               ✔
//	*MapUpdate            ✔               ✔
//	*NamedConst                                           ✔ (const)
//	*Next                 ✔               ✔
//	*Panic                                ✔
//	*Parameter            ✔               ✔
//	*Phi                  ✔               ✔
//	*Range                ✔               ✔
//	*Recv                 ✔               ✔
//	*Return                               ✔
//	*RunDefers                            ✔
//	*Select               ✔               ✔
//	*Send                 ✔               ✔
//	*Sigma                ✔               ✔
//	*Slice                ✔               ✔
//	*SliceToArrayPointer  ✔               ✔
//	*SliceToArray         ✔               ✔
//	*Store                ✔               ✔
//	*StringLookup         ✔               ✔
//	*Type                                                 ✔ (type)
//	*TypeAssert           ✔               ✔
//	*UnOp                 ✔               ✔
//	*Unreachable                          ✔
//
// Other key types in this package include: Program, Package, Function
// and BasicBlock.
//
// The program representation constructed by this package is fully
// resolved internally, i.e. it does not rely on the names of Values,
// Packages, Functions, Types or BasicBlocks for the correct
// interpretation of the program.  Only the identities of objects and
// the topology of the IR and type graphs are semantically
// significant.  (There is one exception: Ids, used to identify field
// and method names, contain strings.)  Avoidance of name-based
// operations simplifies the implementation of subsequent passes and
// can make them very efficient.  Many objects are nonetheless named
// to aid in debugging, but it is not essential that the names be
// either accurate or unambiguous.  The public API exposes a number of
// name-based maps for client convenience.
//
// The ir/irutil package provides various utilities that depend only
// on the public API of this package.
//
// TODO(adonovan): Consider the exceptional control-flow implications
// of defer and recover().
//
// TODO(adonovan): write a how-to document for all the various cases
// of trying to determine corresponding elements across the four
// domains of source locations, ast.Nodes, types.Objects,
// ir.Values/Instructions.
package ir