Tools/jit/README.md

The JIT Compiler
================

This version of CPython can be built with an experimental just-in-time compiler[^pep-744]. While most everything you already know about building and using CPython is unchanged, you will probably need to install a compatible version of LLVM first.

Python 3.11 or newer is required to build the JIT.

## Installing LLVM

The JIT compiler does not require end users to install any third-party dependencies, but part of it must be *built* using LLVM[^why-llvm]. You are *not* required to build the rest of CPython using LLVM, or even the same version of LLVM (in fact, this is uncommon).

LLVM version 21 is the officially supported version. You can modify if needed using the `LLVM_VERSION` env var during configure. Both `clang` and `llvm-readobj` need to be installed and discoverable (version suffixes, like `clang-19`, are okay). It's highly recommended that you also have `llvm-objdump` available, since this allows the build script to dump human-readable assembly for the generated code.

It's easy to install all of the required tools:

### Linux

Install LLVM 21 on Ubuntu/Debian:

```sh
wget https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh
chmod +x llvm.sh
sudo ./llvm.sh 21
```

Install LLVM 21 on Fedora Linux 40 or newer:

```sh
sudo dnf install 'clang(major) = 21' 'llvm(major) = 21'
```

### macOS

Install LLVM 21 with [Homebrew](https://brew.sh):

```sh
brew install llvm@21
```

Homebrew won't add any of the tools to your `$PATH`. That's okay; the build script knows how to find them.

### Windows

LLVM is downloaded automatically (along with other external binary dependencies) by `PCbuild\build.bat`.

By default, the architecture of the LLVM tools is auto-detected based on the host machine. To override this, set the `PreferredToolArchitecture` environment variable before building:

```sh
set PreferredToolArchitecture=AMD64
PCbuild\build.bat --experimental-jit
```

Valid values are`x64`, `x86` and `ARM64`.

Otherwise, you can install LLVM 21 [by searching for it on LLVM's GitHub releases page](https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/releases?q=21), clicking on "Assets", downloading the appropriate Windows installer for your platform (likely the file ending with `-win64.exe`), and running it. **When installing, be sure to select the option labeled "Add LLVM to the system PATH".**

Alternatively, you can use [chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org):

```sh
choco install llvm --version=21.1.0
```

### Dev Containers

If you are working on CPython in a [Codespaces instance](https://devguide.python.org/getting-started/setup-building/#using-codespaces), there's no 
need to install LLVM as the Fedora 43 base image includes LLVM 21 out of the box.

## Building

For `PCbuild`-based builds, pass the `--experimental-jit` option to `build.bat`.

For all other builds, pass the `--enable-experimental-jit` option to `configure`.

Otherwise, just configure and build as you normally would. Cross-compiling "just works", since the JIT is built for the host platform.

The JIT can also be enabled or disabled using the `PYTHON_JIT` environment variable, even on builds where it is enabled or disabled by default. More details about configuring CPython with the JIT and optional values for `--enable-experimental-jit` can be found [here](https://docs.python.org/dev/using/configure.html#cmdoption-enable-experimental-jit).

## Miscellaneous
If you're looking for information on how to update the JIT build dependencies, see [JIT Build Infrastructure](jit_infra.md).

[^pep-744]: [PEP 744](https://peps.python.org/pep-0744/)

[^why-llvm]: Clang is specifically needed because it's the only C compiler with support for guaranteed tail calls (`musttail`), which are required by CPython's continuation-passing-style approach to JIT compilation. Since LLVM also includes other functionalities we need (namely, object file parsing and disassembly), it's convenient to only support one toolchain at this time.