Build LLVM for Windows using MSVC-compatible Clang (#497)

## Description

Switches the Windows LLVM build from Visual Studio to `clang-cl` +
`lld-link` (Clang's MSVC-compatible drivers) with Ninja.

This is in order to better match the Clang toolchain used on our Linux
and macOS variants, while keeping the MSVC ABI.

It also speeds up the build time by at least 2x on Windows.

.github/workflows/release-llvm.yml

@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ jobs:
       contents: write # for uploading assets to release
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
       - uses: actions-rust-lang/setup-rust-toolchain@v1
         with:
           # without this it will override our rust flags
@@ -101,6 +102,13 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           choco install ninja
 
+      # Provides MSVC toolchain (ml64, headers, libs) used by clang-cl when building LLVM.
+      - name: Set Up MSVC Developer Environment
+        if: ${{ matrix.host == 'windows' }}
+        uses: ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1
+        with:
+          arch: x64
+
       - name: Install LLVM Builder
         run: |
           cargo install --locked --force --path crates/llvm-builder

.github/workflows/test-llvm-builder.yml

@@ -40,6 +40,18 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           brew install ninja
 
+      - name: Install Dependencies
+        if: matrix.runner == 'windows-2022'
+        run: |
+          choco install ninja
+
+      # Provides MSVC toolchain (ml64, headers, libs) used by clang-cl when building LLVM.
+      - name: Set Up MSVC Developer Environment
+        if: matrix.runner == 'windows-2022'
+        uses: ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1
+        with:
+          arch: x64
+
       - name: Test
         run: make test-llvm-builder
         env:

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ This is a development pre-release.
 - Updated `inkwell` to `0.8.0`
 - Updated `polkavm-*` to `0.31.0`
 - Updated `EMSDK` to `5.0.0`
+- Switched building LLVM for Windows from Visual Studio to MSVC-compatible Clang (clang-cl) and Ninja. [#497](https://github.com/paritytech/revive/pull/497)
 
 ## v1.0.0
 

crates/llvm-builder/src/platforms/x86_64_windows_msvc.rs

@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-//! The revive LLVM amd64 `windows-gnu` builder.
+//! The revive LLVM amd64 `windows-msvc` builder.
+//!
+//! Uses `clang-cl` and `lld-link` (Clang's MSVC-compatible drivers)
+//! to match the Clang toolchain used on our Linux and MacOS variants,
+//! while keeping the MSVC ABI and C++ runtime.
 
 use std::collections::HashSet;
 use std::process::Command;
@@ -27,6 +31,9 @@ pub fn build(
     sanitizer: Option<Sanitizer>,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     crate::utils::check_presence("cmake")?;
+    crate::utils::check_presence("clang-cl")?;
+    crate::utils::check_presence("lld-link")?;
+    crate::utils::check_presence("ninja")?;
 
     let llvm_module_llvm =
         LLVMPath::llvm_module_llvm().and_then(crate::utils::path_windows_to_unix)?;
@@ -43,12 +50,16 @@ pub fn build(
                 "-B",
                 llvm_build_final.to_string_lossy().as_ref(),
                 "-G",
-                "Visual Studio 17 2022",
+                "Ninja",
                 format!(
                     "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX='{}'",
                     llvm_target_final.to_string_lossy().as_ref(),
                 )
                 .as_str(),
+                format!("-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE='{build_type}'").as_str(),
+                "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER='clang-cl'",
+                "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER='clang-cl'",
+                "-DLLVM_USE_LINKER='lld-link'",
                 format!(
                     "-DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD='{}'",
                     targets
@@ -99,17 +110,7 @@ pub fn build(
         "LLVM building cmake",
     )?;
 
-    crate::utils::command(
-        Command::new("cmake").args([
-            "--build",
-            llvm_build_final.to_string_lossy().as_ref(),
-            "--target",
-            "install",
-            "--config",
-            build_type.to_string().as_str(),
-        ]),
-        "Building with msbuild",
-    )?;
+    crate::utils::ninja(llvm_build_final.as_ref())?;
 
     Ok(())
 }