NVIDIA Opens Up CUDA Compiler
GPU maker NVIDIA is going to make its CUDA compiler runtime source code, and internal representation format public, opening up the technology for different programming languages and processor architectures. The announcement was made on Wednesday at the kick-off of the GPU Technology Conference Asia in Beijing, China.
The company says it will use the LLVM compiler infrastructure as the vehicle for the public CUDA source code. LLVM is a open source project that maintains source code collections of various of compile, runtimes, and other development tools. The new LLVM-based CUDA source, will be available in the latest release of the CUDA Toolkit, version 4.1, which was also launched this week.
The CUDA open source set-up does not, however, mean NVIDIA will arbitrarily accept changes and enhancements to its compiler technology from other developers. The company still intends to retain complete control of its source code. Tool developers will be able to modify the standard compiler and runtime for their own customized needs, but little of this is likely to be folded back into NVIDIA's code base
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