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Return To ShopWin64 Clang Toolchains in RAD Studio 12
Yukon Beta Blog by David Millington on October 26, 2023
This blog post is based on a pre-release version of the RAD Studio software and it has been written with specific permission by Embarcadero. No feature is committed until the product GA release.
New Clang
The C++ compiler is foundational to RAD Studio. Through the Clang & LLVM work, we make LLVM available to Delphi. And, of course, we need a modern, powerful C++ compiler to provide our C++ developers with the best source compatibility, libraries, app performance, and more.
Our goals for the work are:
- Very high quality. A robust STL. A linker that can handle anything and any quantity you give it.
- Excellent quality in all areas, such as exception handling
- Excellent language standards compatibility.
- High performance for the compiled code. Optimised runtimes.
- Match platform standards as much as possible
How are we meeting those? Let’s go in reverse order.
Platform standards
The new toolchain is based on Clang 15*. The previous toolchain used the ELF object file format, a primarily Unix/Linux format, for historical reasons that are actually (long story) related to Kylix. For this toolchain, we are moving to COFF, which is the standard object file format for Windows compilers of any compiled language. Similarly, we are using the PDB debug format, which again is the standard. While we are not officially supporting any third party tools, there are many tools developers use which understand COFF & PDB and we hope that by adhering to the platform norms, we open up the opportunity to use a wide variety of tools with your apps and C++Builder.
[*] Clang 15 was current when this work started, and we are avoiding changing the wheels while the car is in motion. We plan to remain up to date and move forward with Clang itself in future.
High performance for the compiled code.
While we are aiming for correct compiled code behaviour above all else, we are also aiming for high performance. The new toolchain’s technology generates more optimized code, and allows additional optimisations that were not previously possible in future.