[gcc] What exactly is LLVM?

The LLVM Compiler Infrastructure is particularly useful for performing optimizations and transformations on code. It also consists of a number of tools serving distinct usages. llvm-prof is a profiling tool that allows you to do profiling of execution in order to identify program hotspots. Opt is an optimization tool that offers various optimization passes (dead code elimination for instance).

Importantly LLVM provides you with the libraries, to write your own Passes. For instance if you require to add a range check on certain arguments that are passed into certain functions of a Program, writing a simple LLVM Pass would suffice.

For more information on writing your own Pass, check this http://llvm.org/docs/WritingAnLLVMPass.html