[R-pkg-devel] Package with multiple compilers?

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 29/05/2015 9:52 AM, Charles Determan wrote:
> I am actively working on an R package that will incorporate some CUDA code
> for using NVIDIA GPU devices.  I am quite familiar with Rcpp for C++ code
> and accustomed to using a Makevars file for specifying compiler options.
> However I am stumped currently about how to use the NVCC compiler for the
> .cu files.
>
> Typically, a CUDA program will first be compiled with NVCC and the linked
> with any other .o files.
>
> # very simplified example
> nvcc my_cuda_function.cu -o my_cuda_function.o
> g++ -o my_program.so other_cpp_function.o my_cuda_function.o
>
> I have seem some older packages using a Makefile but I have also read that
> this is currently recommended against because of the need for multiarch
> builds.
>
> Does anyone know how I can tell R to compile .cu files with NVCC and
> 'proceed as normal' with the resulting .o files?

You can include the recipes for those .o files in your Makevars file.  
It is essentially a fragment of the full Makefile needed by your 
package.  I forget if you'll need to give an explicit recipe for the 
library, or whether the standard file will link them in. Try it!

Duncan Murdoch