The New Compiler Stack: A Survey on the Synergy of LLMs and Compilers
It provides a foundational roadmap for researchers and practitioners in compiler development, though it is incremental as a survey.
This survey systematically overviews the integration of LLMs into compilers, categorizing approaches by design philosophy and methodology, and identifies benefits like democratization and novel optimizations while addressing challenges such as correctness and scalability.
This survey has provided a systematic overview of the emerging field of LLM-enabled compilation by addressing several key research questions. We first answered how LLMs are being integrated by proposing a comprehensive, multi-dimensional taxonomy that categorizes works based on their Design Philosophy (Selector, Translator, Generator), LLM Methodology, their operational Level of Code Abstraction, and the specific Task Type they address. In answering what advancements these approaches offer, we identified three primary benefits: the democratization of compiler development, the discovery of novel optimization strategies, and the broadening of the compiler's traditional scope. Finally, in addressing the field's challenges and opportunities, we highlighted the critical hurdles of ensuring correctness and achieving scalability, while identifying the development of hybrid systems as the most promising path forward. By providing these answers, this survey serves as a foundational roadmap for researchers and practitioners, charting the course for a new generation of LLM-powered, intelligent, adaptive and synergistic compilation tools.