Visual Studio, not mingw or cygwin. In order to get started, you first need to
know some basic information.
-There are many different projects that compose LLVM. The first is the LLVM
-suite. This contains all of the tools, libraries, and header files needed to
-use LLVM. It contains an assembler, disassembler,
-bitcode analyzer and bitcode optimizer. It also contains a test suite that can
-be used to test the LLVM tools.
-
-Another useful project on Windows is `Clang <http://clang.llvm.org/>`_.
-Clang is a C family ([Objective]C/C++) compiler. Clang mostly works on
-Windows, but does not currently understand all of the Microsoft extensions
-to C and C++. Because of this, clang cannot parse the C++ standard library
-included with Visual Studio, nor parts of the Windows Platform SDK. However,
-most standard C programs do compile. Clang can be used to emit bitcode,
-directly emit object files or even linked executables using Visual Studio's
-``link.exe``.
-
-The large LLVM test suite cannot be run on the Visual Studio port at this
-time.
-
-Most of the tools build and work. ``bugpoint`` does build, but does
-not work.
+There are many different projects that compose LLVM. The first piece is the
+LLVM suite. This contains all of the tools, libraries, and header files needed
+to use LLVM. It contains an assembler, disassembler, bitcode analyzer and
+bitcode optimizer. It also contains basic regression tests that can be used to
+test the LLVM tools and the Clang front end.
+
+The second piece is the `Clang <http://clang.llvm.org/>`_ front end. This
+component compiles C, C++, Objective C, and Objective C++ code into LLVM
+bitcode. Clang typically uses LLVM libraries to optimize the bitcode and emit
+machine code. LLVM fully supports the COFF object file format, which is
+compatible with all other existing Windows toolchains.
+
+The last major part of LLVM, the execution Test Suite, does not run on Windows,
+and this document does not discuss it.
Additional information about the LLVM directory structure and tool chain
can be found on the main :doc:`GettingStarted` page.
Hardware
--------
-Any system that can adequately run Visual Studio 2012 is fine. The LLVM
+Any system that can adequately run Visual Studio 2013 is fine. The LLVM
source tree and object files, libraries and executables will consume
approximately 3GB.
Software
--------
-You will need Visual Studio 2012 or higher.
+You will need Visual Studio 2013 or higher.
You will also need the `CMake <http://www.cmake.org/>`_ build system since it
generates the project files you will use to build with.
If you would like to run the LLVM tests you will need `Python
-<http://www.python.org/>`_. Versions 2.4-2.7 are known to work. You will need
-`GnuWin32 <http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/>`_ tools, too.
+<http://www.python.org/>`_. Version 2.7 and newer are known to work. You will
+need `GnuWin32 <http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/>`_ tools, too.
Do not install the LLVM directory tree into a path containing spaces (e.g.
``C:\Documents and Settings\...``) as the configure step will fail.