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      2 Kaleidoscope: Extending the Language: Control Flow
      3 ==================================================
      4 
      5 .. contents::
      6    :local:
      7 
      8 Chapter 5 Introduction
      9 ======================
     10 
     11 Welcome to Chapter 5 of the "`Implementing a language with
     12 LLVM <index.html>`_" tutorial. Parts 1-4 described the implementation of
     13 the simple Kaleidoscope language and included support for generating
     14 LLVM IR, followed by optimizations and a JIT compiler. Unfortunately, as
     15 presented, Kaleidoscope is mostly useless: it has no control flow other
     16 than call and return. This means that you can't have conditional
     17 branches in the code, significantly limiting its power. In this episode
     18 of "build that compiler", we'll extend Kaleidoscope to have an
     19 if/then/else expression plus a simple 'for' loop.
     20 
     21 If/Then/Else
     22 ============
     23 
     24 Extending Kaleidoscope to support if/then/else is quite straightforward.
     25 It basically requires adding support for this "new" concept to the
     26 lexer, parser, AST, and LLVM code emitter. This example is nice, because
     27 it shows how easy it is to "grow" a language over time, incrementally
     28 extending it as new ideas are discovered.
     29 
     30 Before we get going on "how" we add this extension, let's talk about
     31 "what" we want. The basic idea is that we want to be able to write this
     32 sort of thing:
     33 
     34 ::
     35 
     36     def fib(x)
     37       if x < 3 then
     38         1
     39       else
     40         fib(x-1)+fib(x-2);
     41 
     42 In Kaleidoscope, every construct is an expression: there are no
     43 statements. As such, the if/then/else expression needs to return a value
     44 like any other. Since we're using a mostly functional form, we'll have
     45 it evaluate its conditional, then return the 'then' or 'else' value
     46 based on how the condition was resolved. This is very similar to the C
     47 "?:" expression.
     48 
     49 The semantics of the if/then/else expression is that it evaluates the
     50 condition to a boolean equality value: 0.0 is considered to be false and
     51 everything else is considered to be true. If the condition is true, the
     52 first subexpression is evaluated and returned, if the condition is
     53 false, the second subexpression is evaluated and returned. Since
     54 Kaleidoscope allows side-effects, this behavior is important to nail
     55 down.
     56 
     57 Now that we know what we "want", let's break this down into its
     58 constituent pieces.
     59 
     60 Lexer Extensions for If/Then/Else
     61 ---------------------------------
     62 
     63 The lexer extensions are straightforward. First we add new enum values
     64 for the relevant tokens:
     65 
     66 .. code-block:: c++
     67 
     68       // control
     69       tok_if = -6,
     70       tok_then = -7,
     71       tok_else = -8,
     72 
     73 Once we have that, we recognize the new keywords in the lexer. This is
     74 pretty simple stuff:
     75 
     76 .. code-block:: c++
     77 
     78         ...
     79         if (IdentifierStr == "def")
     80           return tok_def;
     81         if (IdentifierStr == "extern")
     82           return tok_extern;
     83         if (IdentifierStr == "if")
     84           return tok_if;
     85         if (IdentifierStr == "then")
     86           return tok_then;
     87         if (IdentifierStr == "else")
     88           return tok_else;
     89         return tok_identifier;
     90 
     91 AST Extensions for If/Then/Else
     92 -------------------------------
     93 
     94 To represent the new expression we add a new AST node for it:
     95 
     96 .. code-block:: c++
     97 
     98     /// IfExprAST - Expression class for if/then/else.
     99     class IfExprAST : public ExprAST {
    100       std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Cond, Then, Else;
    101 
    102     public:
    103       IfExprAST(std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Cond, std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Then,
    104                 std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Else)
    105         : Cond(std::move(Cond)), Then(std::move(Then)), Else(std::move(Else)) {}
    106 
    107       Value *codegen() override;
    108     };
    109 
    110 The AST node just has pointers to the various subexpressions.
    111 
    112 Parser Extensions for If/Then/Else
    113 ----------------------------------
    114 
    115 Now that we have the relevant tokens coming from the lexer and we have
    116 the AST node to build, our parsing logic is relatively straightforward.
    117 First we define a new parsing function:
    118 
    119 .. code-block:: c++
    120 
    121     /// ifexpr ::= 'if' expression 'then' expression 'else' expression
    122     static std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> ParseIfExpr() {
    123       getNextToken();  // eat the if.
    124 
    125       // condition.
    126       auto Cond = ParseExpression();
    127       if (!Cond)
    128         return nullptr;
    129 
    130       if (CurTok != tok_then)
    131         return LogError("expected then");
    132       getNextToken();  // eat the then
    133 
    134       auto Then = ParseExpression();
    135       if (!Then)
    136         return nullptr;
    137 
    138       if (CurTok != tok_else)
    139         return LogError("expected else");
    140 
    141       getNextToken();
    142 
    143       auto Else = ParseExpression();
    144       if (!Else)
    145         return nullptr;
    146 
    147       return llvm::make_unique<IfExprAST>(std::move(Cond), std::move(Then),
    148                                           std::move(Else));
    149     }
    150 
    151 Next we hook it up as a primary expression:
    152 
    153 .. code-block:: c++
    154 
    155     static std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> ParsePrimary() {
    156       switch (CurTok) {
    157       default:
    158         return LogError("unknown token when expecting an expression");
    159       case tok_identifier:
    160         return ParseIdentifierExpr();
    161       case tok_number:
    162         return ParseNumberExpr();
    163       case '(':
    164         return ParseParenExpr();
    165       case tok_if:
    166         return ParseIfExpr();
    167       }
    168     }
    169 
    170 LLVM IR for If/Then/Else
    171 ------------------------
    172 
    173 Now that we have it parsing and building the AST, the final piece is
    174 adding LLVM code generation support. This is the most interesting part
    175 of the if/then/else example, because this is where it starts to
    176 introduce new concepts. All of the code above has been thoroughly
    177 described in previous chapters.
    178 
    179 To motivate the code we want to produce, let's take a look at a simple
    180 example. Consider:
    181 
    182 ::
    183 
    184     extern foo();
    185     extern bar();
    186     def baz(x) if x then foo() else bar();
    187 
    188 If you disable optimizations, the code you'll (soon) get from
    189 Kaleidoscope looks like this:
    190 
    191 .. code-block:: llvm
    192 
    193     declare double @foo()
    194 
    195     declare double @bar()
    196 
    197     define double @baz(double %x) {
    198     entry:
    199       %ifcond = fcmp one double %x, 0.000000e+00
    200       br i1 %ifcond, label %then, label %else
    201 
    202     then:       ; preds = %entry
    203       %calltmp = call double @foo()
    204       br label %ifcont
    205 
    206     else:       ; preds = %entry
    207       %calltmp1 = call double @bar()
    208       br label %ifcont
    209 
    210     ifcont:     ; preds = %else, %then
    211       %iftmp = phi double [ %calltmp, %then ], [ %calltmp1, %else ]
    212       ret double %iftmp
    213     }
    214 
    215 To visualize the control flow graph, you can use a nifty feature of the
    216 LLVM '`opt <http://llvm.org/cmds/opt.html>`_' tool. If you put this LLVM
    217 IR into "t.ll" and run "``llvm-as < t.ll | opt -analyze -view-cfg``", `a
    218 window will pop up <../ProgrammersManual.html#viewing-graphs-while-debugging-code>`_ and you'll
    219 see this graph:
    220 
    221 .. figure:: LangImpl05-cfg.png
    222    :align: center
    223    :alt: Example CFG
    224 
    225    Example CFG
    226 
    227 Another way to get this is to call "``F->viewCFG()``" or
    228 "``F->viewCFGOnly()``" (where F is a "``Function*``") either by
    229 inserting actual calls into the code and recompiling or by calling these
    230 in the debugger. LLVM has many nice features for visualizing various
    231 graphs.
    232 
    233 Getting back to the generated code, it is fairly simple: the entry block
    234 evaluates the conditional expression ("x" in our case here) and compares
    235 the result to 0.0 with the "``fcmp one``" instruction ('one' is "Ordered
    236 and Not Equal"). Based on the result of this expression, the code jumps
    237 to either the "then" or "else" blocks, which contain the expressions for
    238 the true/false cases.
    239 
    240 Once the then/else blocks are finished executing, they both branch back
    241 to the 'ifcont' block to execute the code that happens after the
    242 if/then/else. In this case the only thing left to do is to return to the
    243 caller of the function. The question then becomes: how does the code
    244 know which expression to return?
    245 
    246 The answer to this question involves an important SSA operation: the
    247 `Phi
    248 operation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_single_assignment_form>`_.
    249 If you're not familiar with SSA, `the wikipedia
    250 article <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_single_assignment_form>`_
    251 is a good introduction and there are various other introductions to it
    252 available on your favorite search engine. The short version is that
    253 "execution" of the Phi operation requires "remembering" which block
    254 control came from. The Phi operation takes on the value corresponding to
    255 the input control block. In this case, if control comes in from the
    256 "then" block, it gets the value of "calltmp". If control comes from the
    257 "else" block, it gets the value of "calltmp1".
    258 
    259 At this point, you are probably starting to think "Oh no! This means my
    260 simple and elegant front-end will have to start generating SSA form in
    261 order to use LLVM!". Fortunately, this is not the case, and we strongly
    262 advise *not* implementing an SSA construction algorithm in your
    263 front-end unless there is an amazingly good reason to do so. In
    264 practice, there are two sorts of values that float around in code
    265 written for your average imperative programming language that might need
    266 Phi nodes:
    267 
    268 #. Code that involves user variables: ``x = 1; x = x + 1;``
    269 #. Values that are implicit in the structure of your AST, such as the
    270    Phi node in this case.
    271 
    272 In `Chapter 7 <LangImpl07.html>`_ of this tutorial ("mutable variables"),
    273 we'll talk about #1 in depth. For now, just believe me that you don't
    274 need SSA construction to handle this case. For #2, you have the choice
    275 of using the techniques that we will describe for #1, or you can insert
    276 Phi nodes directly, if convenient. In this case, it is really
    277 easy to generate the Phi node, so we choose to do it directly.
    278 
    279 Okay, enough of the motivation and overview, let's generate code!
    280 
    281 Code Generation for If/Then/Else
    282 --------------------------------
    283 
    284 In order to generate code for this, we implement the ``codegen`` method
    285 for ``IfExprAST``:
    286 
    287 .. code-block:: c++
    288 
    289     Value *IfExprAST::codegen() {
    290       Value *CondV = Cond->codegen();
    291       if (!CondV)
    292         return nullptr;
    293 
    294       // Convert condition to a bool by comparing non-equal to 0.0.
    295       CondV = Builder.CreateFCmpONE(
    296           CondV, ConstantFP::get(TheContext, APFloat(0.0)), "ifcond");
    297 
    298 This code is straightforward and similar to what we saw before. We emit
    299 the expression for the condition, then compare that value to zero to get
    300 a truth value as a 1-bit (bool) value.
    301 
    302 .. code-block:: c++
    303 
    304       Function *TheFunction = Builder.GetInsertBlock()->getParent();
    305 
    306       // Create blocks for the then and else cases.  Insert the 'then' block at the
    307       // end of the function.
    308       BasicBlock *ThenBB =
    309           BasicBlock::Create(TheContext, "then", TheFunction);
    310       BasicBlock *ElseBB = BasicBlock::Create(TheContext, "else");
    311       BasicBlock *MergeBB = BasicBlock::Create(TheContext, "ifcont");
    312 
    313       Builder.CreateCondBr(CondV, ThenBB, ElseBB);
    314 
    315 This code creates the basic blocks that are related to the if/then/else
    316 statement, and correspond directly to the blocks in the example above.
    317 The first line gets the current Function object that is being built. It
    318 gets this by asking the builder for the current BasicBlock, and asking
    319 that block for its "parent" (the function it is currently embedded
    320 into).
    321 
    322 Once it has that, it creates three blocks. Note that it passes
    323 "TheFunction" into the constructor for the "then" block. This causes the
    324 constructor to automatically insert the new block into the end of the
    325 specified function. The other two blocks are created, but aren't yet
    326 inserted into the function.
    327 
    328 Once the blocks are created, we can emit the conditional branch that
    329 chooses between them. Note that creating new blocks does not implicitly
    330 affect the IRBuilder, so it is still inserting into the block that the
    331 condition went into. Also note that it is creating a branch to the
    332 "then" block and the "else" block, even though the "else" block isn't
    333 inserted into the function yet. This is all ok: it is the standard way
    334 that LLVM supports forward references.
    335 
    336 .. code-block:: c++
    337 
    338       // Emit then value.
    339       Builder.SetInsertPoint(ThenBB);
    340 
    341       Value *ThenV = Then->codegen();
    342       if (!ThenV)
    343         return nullptr;
    344 
    345       Builder.CreateBr(MergeBB);
    346       // Codegen of 'Then' can change the current block, update ThenBB for the PHI.
    347       ThenBB = Builder.GetInsertBlock();
    348 
    349 After the conditional branch is inserted, we move the builder to start
    350 inserting into the "then" block. Strictly speaking, this call moves the
    351 insertion point to be at the end of the specified block. However, since
    352 the "then" block is empty, it also starts out by inserting at the
    353 beginning of the block. :)
    354 
    355 Once the insertion point is set, we recursively codegen the "then"
    356 expression from the AST. To finish off the "then" block, we create an
    357 unconditional branch to the merge block. One interesting (and very
    358 important) aspect of the LLVM IR is that it `requires all basic blocks
    359 to be "terminated" <../LangRef.html#functionstructure>`_ with a `control
    360 flow instruction <../LangRef.html#terminators>`_ such as return or
    361 branch. This means that all control flow, *including fall throughs* must
    362 be made explicit in the LLVM IR. If you violate this rule, the verifier
    363 will emit an error.
    364 
    365 The final line here is quite subtle, but is very important. The basic
    366 issue is that when we create the Phi node in the merge block, we need to
    367 set up the block/value pairs that indicate how the Phi will work.
    368 Importantly, the Phi node expects to have an entry for each predecessor
    369 of the block in the CFG. Why then, are we getting the current block when
    370 we just set it to ThenBB 5 lines above? The problem is that the "Then"
    371 expression may actually itself change the block that the Builder is
    372 emitting into if, for example, it contains a nested "if/then/else"
    373 expression. Because calling ``codegen()`` recursively could arbitrarily change
    374 the notion of the current block, we are required to get an up-to-date
    375 value for code that will set up the Phi node.
    376 
    377 .. code-block:: c++
    378 
    379       // Emit else block.
    380       TheFunction->getBasicBlockList().push_back(ElseBB);
    381       Builder.SetInsertPoint(ElseBB);
    382 
    383       Value *ElseV = Else->codegen();
    384       if (!ElseV)
    385         return nullptr;
    386 
    387       Builder.CreateBr(MergeBB);
    388       // codegen of 'Else' can change the current block, update ElseBB for the PHI.
    389       ElseBB = Builder.GetInsertBlock();
    390 
    391 Code generation for the 'else' block is basically identical to codegen
    392 for the 'then' block. The only significant difference is the first line,
    393 which adds the 'else' block to the function. Recall previously that the
    394 'else' block was created, but not added to the function. Now that the
    395 'then' and 'else' blocks are emitted, we can finish up with the merge
    396 code:
    397 
    398 .. code-block:: c++
    399 
    400       // Emit merge block.
    401       TheFunction->getBasicBlockList().push_back(MergeBB);
    402       Builder.SetInsertPoint(MergeBB);
    403       PHINode *PN =
    404         Builder.CreatePHI(Type::getDoubleTy(TheContext), 2, "iftmp");
    405 
    406       PN->addIncoming(ThenV, ThenBB);
    407       PN->addIncoming(ElseV, ElseBB);
    408       return PN;
    409     }
    410 
    411 The first two lines here are now familiar: the first adds the "merge"
    412 block to the Function object (it was previously floating, like the else
    413 block above). The second changes the insertion point so that newly
    414 created code will go into the "merge" block. Once that is done, we need
    415 to create the PHI node and set up the block/value pairs for the PHI.
    416 
    417 Finally, the CodeGen function returns the phi node as the value computed
    418 by the if/then/else expression. In our example above, this returned
    419 value will feed into the code for the top-level function, which will
    420 create the return instruction.
    421 
    422 Overall, we now have the ability to execute conditional code in
    423 Kaleidoscope. With this extension, Kaleidoscope is a fairly complete
    424 language that can calculate a wide variety of numeric functions. Next up
    425 we'll add another useful expression that is familiar from non-functional
    426 languages...
    427 
    428 'for' Loop Expression
    429 =====================
    430 
    431 Now that we know how to add basic control flow constructs to the
    432 language, we have the tools to add more powerful things. Let's add
    433 something more aggressive, a 'for' expression:
    434 
    435 ::
    436 
    437      extern putchard(char);
    438      def printstar(n)
    439        for i = 1, i < n, 1.0 in
    440          putchard(42);  # ascii 42 = '*'
    441 
    442      # print 100 '*' characters
    443      printstar(100);
    444 
    445 This expression defines a new variable ("i" in this case) which iterates
    446 from a starting value, while the condition ("i < n" in this case) is
    447 true, incrementing by an optional step value ("1.0" in this case). If
    448 the step value is omitted, it defaults to 1.0. While the loop is true,
    449 it executes its body expression. Because we don't have anything better
    450 to return, we'll just define the loop as always returning 0.0. In the
    451 future when we have mutable variables, it will get more useful.
    452 
    453 As before, let's talk about the changes that we need to Kaleidoscope to
    454 support this.
    455 
    456 Lexer Extensions for the 'for' Loop
    457 -----------------------------------
    458 
    459 The lexer extensions are the same sort of thing as for if/then/else:
    460 
    461 .. code-block:: c++
    462 
    463       ... in enum Token ...
    464       // control
    465       tok_if = -6, tok_then = -7, tok_else = -8,
    466       tok_for = -9, tok_in = -10
    467 
    468       ... in gettok ...
    469       if (IdentifierStr == "def")
    470         return tok_def;
    471       if (IdentifierStr == "extern")
    472         return tok_extern;
    473       if (IdentifierStr == "if")
    474         return tok_if;
    475       if (IdentifierStr == "then")
    476         return tok_then;
    477       if (IdentifierStr == "else")
    478         return tok_else;
    479       if (IdentifierStr == "for")
    480         return tok_for;
    481       if (IdentifierStr == "in")
    482         return tok_in;
    483       return tok_identifier;
    484 
    485 AST Extensions for the 'for' Loop
    486 ---------------------------------
    487 
    488 The AST node is just as simple. It basically boils down to capturing the
    489 variable name and the constituent expressions in the node.
    490 
    491 .. code-block:: c++
    492 
    493     /// ForExprAST - Expression class for for/in.
    494     class ForExprAST : public ExprAST {
    495       std::string VarName;
    496       std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Start, End, Step, Body;
    497 
    498     public:
    499       ForExprAST(const std::string &VarName, std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Start,
    500                  std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> End, std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Step,
    501                  std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Body)
    502         : VarName(VarName), Start(std::move(Start)), End(std::move(End)),
    503           Step(std::move(Step)), Body(std::move(Body)) {}
    504 
    505       Value *codegen() override;
    506     };
    507 
    508 Parser Extensions for the 'for' Loop
    509 ------------------------------------
    510 
    511 The parser code is also fairly standard. The only interesting thing here
    512 is handling of the optional step value. The parser code handles it by
    513 checking to see if the second comma is present. If not, it sets the step
    514 value to null in the AST node:
    515 
    516 .. code-block:: c++
    517 
    518     /// forexpr ::= 'for' identifier '=' expr ',' expr (',' expr)? 'in' expression
    519     static std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> ParseForExpr() {
    520       getNextToken();  // eat the for.
    521 
    522       if (CurTok != tok_identifier)
    523         return LogError("expected identifier after for");
    524 
    525       std::string IdName = IdentifierStr;
    526       getNextToken();  // eat identifier.
    527 
    528       if (CurTok != '=')
    529         return LogError("expected '=' after for");
    530       getNextToken();  // eat '='.
    531 
    532 
    533       auto Start = ParseExpression();
    534       if (!Start)
    535         return nullptr;
    536       if (CurTok != ',')
    537         return LogError("expected ',' after for start value");
    538       getNextToken();
    539 
    540       auto End = ParseExpression();
    541       if (!End)
    542         return nullptr;
    543 
    544       // The step value is optional.
    545       std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> Step;
    546       if (CurTok == ',') {
    547         getNextToken();
    548         Step = ParseExpression();
    549         if (!Step)
    550           return nullptr;
    551       }
    552 
    553       if (CurTok != tok_in)
    554         return LogError("expected 'in' after for");
    555       getNextToken();  // eat 'in'.
    556 
    557       auto Body = ParseExpression();
    558       if (!Body)
    559         return nullptr;
    560 
    561       return llvm::make_unique<ForExprAST>(IdName, std::move(Start),
    562                                            std::move(End), std::move(Step),
    563                                            std::move(Body));
    564     }
    565 
    566 And again we hook it up as a primary expression:
    567 
    568 .. code-block:: c++
    569 
    570     static std::unique_ptr<ExprAST> ParsePrimary() {
    571       switch (CurTok) {
    572       default:
    573         return LogError("unknown token when expecting an expression");
    574       case tok_identifier:
    575         return ParseIdentifierExpr();
    576       case tok_number:
    577         return ParseNumberExpr();
    578       case '(':
    579         return ParseParenExpr();
    580       case tok_if:
    581         return ParseIfExpr();
    582       case tok_for:
    583         return ParseForExpr();
    584       }
    585     }
    586 
    587 LLVM IR for the 'for' Loop
    588 --------------------------
    589 
    590 Now we get to the good part: the LLVM IR we want to generate for this
    591 thing. With the simple example above, we get this LLVM IR (note that
    592 this dump is generated with optimizations disabled for clarity):
    593 
    594 .. code-block:: llvm
    595 
    596     declare double @putchard(double)
    597 
    598     define double @printstar(double %n) {
    599     entry:
    600       ; initial value = 1.0 (inlined into phi)
    601       br label %loop
    602 
    603     loop:       ; preds = %loop, %entry
    604       %i = phi double [ 1.000000e+00, %entry ], [ %nextvar, %loop ]
    605       ; body
    606       %calltmp = call double @putchard(double 4.200000e+01)
    607       ; increment
    608       %nextvar = fadd double %i, 1.000000e+00
    609 
    610       ; termination test
    611       %cmptmp = fcmp ult double %i, %n
    612       %booltmp = uitofp i1 %cmptmp to double
    613       %loopcond = fcmp one double %booltmp, 0.000000e+00
    614       br i1 %loopcond, label %loop, label %afterloop
    615 
    616     afterloop:      ; preds = %loop
    617       ; loop always returns 0.0
    618       ret double 0.000000e+00
    619     }
    620 
    621 This loop contains all the same constructs we saw before: a phi node,
    622 several expressions, and some basic blocks. Let's see how this fits
    623 together.
    624 
    625 Code Generation for the 'for' Loop
    626 ----------------------------------
    627 
    628 The first part of codegen is very simple: we just output the start
    629 expression for the loop value:
    630 
    631 .. code-block:: c++
    632 
    633     Value *ForExprAST::codegen() {
    634       // Emit the start code first, without 'variable' in scope.
    635       Value *StartVal = Start->codegen();
    636       if (!StartVal)
    637         return nullptr;
    638 
    639 With this out of the way, the next step is to set up the LLVM basic
    640 block for the start of the loop body. In the case above, the whole loop
    641 body is one block, but remember that the body code itself could consist
    642 of multiple blocks (e.g. if it contains an if/then/else or a for/in
    643 expression).
    644 
    645 .. code-block:: c++
    646 
    647       // Make the new basic block for the loop header, inserting after current
    648       // block.
    649       Function *TheFunction = Builder.GetInsertBlock()->getParent();
    650       BasicBlock *PreheaderBB = Builder.GetInsertBlock();
    651       BasicBlock *LoopBB =
    652           BasicBlock::Create(TheContext, "loop", TheFunction);
    653 
    654       // Insert an explicit fall through from the current block to the LoopBB.
    655       Builder.CreateBr(LoopBB);
    656 
    657 This code is similar to what we saw for if/then/else. Because we will
    658 need it to create the Phi node, we remember the block that falls through
    659 into the loop. Once we have that, we create the actual block that starts
    660 the loop and create an unconditional branch for the fall-through between
    661 the two blocks.
    662 
    663 .. code-block:: c++
    664 
    665       // Start insertion in LoopBB.
    666       Builder.SetInsertPoint(LoopBB);
    667 
    668       // Start the PHI node with an entry for Start.
    669       PHINode *Variable = Builder.CreatePHI(Type::getDoubleTy(TheContext),
    670                                             2, VarName.c_str());
    671       Variable->addIncoming(StartVal, PreheaderBB);
    672 
    673 Now that the "preheader" for the loop is set up, we switch to emitting
    674 code for the loop body. To begin with, we move the insertion point and
    675 create the PHI node for the loop induction variable. Since we already
    676 know the incoming value for the starting value, we add it to the Phi
    677 node. Note that the Phi will eventually get a second value for the
    678 backedge, but we can't set it up yet (because it doesn't exist!).
    679 
    680 .. code-block:: c++
    681 
    682       // Within the loop, the variable is defined equal to the PHI node.  If it
    683       // shadows an existing variable, we have to restore it, so save it now.
    684       Value *OldVal = NamedValues[VarName];
    685       NamedValues[VarName] = Variable;
    686 
    687       // Emit the body of the loop.  This, like any other expr, can change the
    688       // current BB.  Note that we ignore the value computed by the body, but don't
    689       // allow an error.
    690       if (!Body->codegen())
    691         return nullptr;
    692 
    693 Now the code starts to get more interesting. Our 'for' loop introduces a
    694 new variable to the symbol table. This means that our symbol table can
    695 now contain either function arguments or loop variables. To handle this,
    696 before we codegen the body of the loop, we add the loop variable as the
    697 current value for its name. Note that it is possible that there is a
    698 variable of the same name in the outer scope. It would be easy to make
    699 this an error (emit an error and return null if there is already an
    700 entry for VarName) but we choose to allow shadowing of variables. In
    701 order to handle this correctly, we remember the Value that we are
    702 potentially shadowing in ``OldVal`` (which will be null if there is no
    703 shadowed variable).
    704 
    705 Once the loop variable is set into the symbol table, the code
    706 recursively codegen's the body. This allows the body to use the loop
    707 variable: any references to it will naturally find it in the symbol
    708 table.
    709 
    710 .. code-block:: c++
    711 
    712       // Emit the step value.
    713       Value *StepVal = nullptr;
    714       if (Step) {
    715         StepVal = Step->codegen();
    716         if (!StepVal)
    717           return nullptr;
    718       } else {
    719         // If not specified, use 1.0.
    720         StepVal = ConstantFP::get(TheContext, APFloat(1.0));
    721       }
    722 
    723       Value *NextVar = Builder.CreateFAdd(Variable, StepVal, "nextvar");
    724 
    725 Now that the body is emitted, we compute the next value of the iteration
    726 variable by adding the step value, or 1.0 if it isn't present.
    727 '``NextVar``' will be the value of the loop variable on the next
    728 iteration of the loop.
    729 
    730 .. code-block:: c++
    731 
    732       // Compute the end condition.
    733       Value *EndCond = End->codegen();
    734       if (!EndCond)
    735         return nullptr;
    736 
    737       // Convert condition to a bool by comparing non-equal to 0.0.
    738       EndCond = Builder.CreateFCmpONE(
    739           EndCond, ConstantFP::get(TheContext, APFloat(0.0)), "loopcond");
    740 
    741 Finally, we evaluate the exit value of the loop, to determine whether
    742 the loop should exit. This mirrors the condition evaluation for the
    743 if/then/else statement.
    744 
    745 .. code-block:: c++
    746 
    747       // Create the "after loop" block and insert it.
    748       BasicBlock *LoopEndBB = Builder.GetInsertBlock();
    749       BasicBlock *AfterBB =
    750           BasicBlock::Create(TheContext, "afterloop", TheFunction);
    751 
    752       // Insert the conditional branch into the end of LoopEndBB.
    753       Builder.CreateCondBr(EndCond, LoopBB, AfterBB);
    754 
    755       // Any new code will be inserted in AfterBB.
    756       Builder.SetInsertPoint(AfterBB);
    757 
    758 With the code for the body of the loop complete, we just need to finish
    759 up the control flow for it. This code remembers the end block (for the
    760 phi node), then creates the block for the loop exit ("afterloop"). Based
    761 on the value of the exit condition, it creates a conditional branch that
    762 chooses between executing the loop again and exiting the loop. Any
    763 future code is emitted in the "afterloop" block, so it sets the
    764 insertion position to it.
    765 
    766 .. code-block:: c++
    767 
    768       // Add a new entry to the PHI node for the backedge.
    769       Variable->addIncoming(NextVar, LoopEndBB);
    770 
    771       // Restore the unshadowed variable.
    772       if (OldVal)
    773         NamedValues[VarName] = OldVal;
    774       else
    775         NamedValues.erase(VarName);
    776 
    777       // for expr always returns 0.0.
    778       return Constant::getNullValue(Type::getDoubleTy(TheContext));
    779     }
    780 
    781 The final code handles various cleanups: now that we have the "NextVar"
    782 value, we can add the incoming value to the loop PHI node. After that,
    783 we remove the loop variable from the symbol table, so that it isn't in
    784 scope after the for loop. Finally, code generation of the for loop
    785 always returns 0.0, so that is what we return from
    786 ``ForExprAST::codegen()``.
    787 
    788 With this, we conclude the "adding control flow to Kaleidoscope" chapter
    789 of the tutorial. In this chapter we added two control flow constructs,
    790 and used them to motivate a couple of aspects of the LLVM IR that are
    791 important for front-end implementors to know. In the next chapter of our
    792 saga, we will get a bit crazier and add `user-defined
    793 operators <LangImpl06.html>`_ to our poor innocent language.
    794 
    795 Full Code Listing
    796 =================
    797 
    798 Here is the complete code listing for our running example, enhanced with
    799 the if/then/else and for expressions. To build this example, use:
    800 
    801 .. code-block:: bash
    802 
    803     # Compile
    804     clang++ -g toy.cpp `llvm-config --cxxflags --ldflags --system-libs --libs core mcjit native` -O3 -o toy
    805     # Run
    806     ./toy
    807 
    808 Here is the code:
    809 
    810 .. literalinclude:: ../../examples/Kaleidoscope/Chapter5/toy.cpp
    811    :language: c++
    812 
    813 `Next: Extending the language: user-defined operators <LangImpl06.html>`_
    814 
    815