--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/mlir/docs/Traits.md	Thu Feb 13 15:10:13 2020 +0900
@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+# Introduction to MLIR Operation Traits
+
+[TOC]
+
+MLIR allows for a truly open operation ecosystem, as any dialect may define
+operations that suit a specific level of abstraction. `Traits` are a mechanism
+in which to abstract implementation details and properties that are common
+across many different operations. `Traits` may be used to specify special
+properties and constraints of the operation, including whether the operation has
+side effects or whether its output has the same type as the input. Some examples
+of traits are `Commutative`, `SingleResult`, `Terminator`, etc. See the more
+[comprehensive list](#traits) below for more examples of what is possible.
+
+## Defining a Trait
+
+Traits may be defined in C++ by inheriting from the
+`OpTrait::TraitBase<ConcreteType, TraitType>` class. This base class takes as
+template parameters:
+
+*   ConcreteType
+    -   The concrete operation type that this trait was attached to.
+*   TraitType
+    -   The type of the trait class that is being defined, for use with the
+        [`Curiously Recurring Template Pattern`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiously_recurring_template_pattern).
+
+A derived trait class is expected to take a single template that corresponds to
+the `ConcreteType`. An example trait definition is shown below:
+
+```c++
+template <typename ConcreteType>
+class MyTrait : public OpTrait::TraitBase<ConcreteType, MyTrait> {
+};
+```
+
+Derived traits may also provide a `verifyTrait` hook, that is called when
+verifying the concrete operation. The trait verifiers will currently always be
+invoked before the main `Op::verify`.
+
+```c++
+template <typename ConcreteType>
+class MyTrait : public OpTrait::TraitBase<ConcreteType, MyTrait> {
+public:
+  /// Override the 'verifyTrait' hook to add additional verification on the
+  /// concrete operation.
+  static LogicalResult verifyTrait(Operation *op) {
+    // ...
+  }
+};
+```
+
+Note: It is generally good practice to define the implementation of the
+`verifyTrait` hook out-of-line as a free function when possible to avoid
+instantiating the implementation for every concrete operation type.
+
+### Parametric Traits
+
+The above demonstrates the definition of a simple self-contained trait. It is
+also often useful to provide some static parameters to the trait to control its
+behavior. Given that the definition of the trait class is rigid, i.e. we must
+have a single template argument for the concrete operation, the templates for
+the parameters will need to be split out. An example is shown below:
+
+```c++
+template <int Parameter>
+class MyParametricTrait {
+public:
+  template <typename ConcreteType>
+  class Impl : public OpTrait::TraitBase<ConcreteType, Impl> {
+    // Inside of 'Impl' we have full access to the template parameters
+    // specified above.
+  };
+};
+```
+
+## Attaching a Trait
+
+Traits may be used when defining a derived operation type, by simply adding the
+name of the trait class to the `Op` class after the concrete operation type:
+
+```c++
+/// Here we define 'MyOp' along with the 'MyTrait' and `MyParametric trait
+/// classes we defined previously.
+class MyOp : public Op<MyOp, MyTrait, MyParametricTrait<10>::Impl> {};
+```
+
+To use a trait in the [ODS](OpDefinitions.md) framework, we need to provide a
+definition of the trait class. This can be done using the `NativeOpTrait` and
+`ParamNativeOpTrait` classes. `ParamNativeOpTrait` provides a mechanism in which
+to specify arguments to a parametric trait class with an internal `Impl`.
+
+```tablegen
+// The argument is the c++ trait class name.
+def MyTrait : NativeOpTrait<"MyTrait">;
+
+// The first argument is the parent c++ class name. The second argument is a
+// string containing the parameter list.
+class MyParametricTrait<int prop>
+  : NativeOpTrait<"MyParametricTrait", !cast<string>(!head(parameters))>;
+```
+
+These can then be used in the `traits` list of an op definition:
+
+```tablegen
+def OpWithInferTypeInterfaceOp : Op<...[MyTrait, MyParametricTrait<10>]> { ... }
+```
+
+See the documentation on [operation definitions](OpDefinitions.md) for more
+details.
+
+## Using a Trait
+
+Traits may be used to provide additional methods, static fields, or other
+information directly on the concrete operation. `Traits` internally become
+`Base` classes of the concrete operation, so all of these are directly
+accessible. To expose this information opaquely to transformations and analyses,
+[`interfaces`](Interfaces.md) may be used.
+
+To query if a specific operation contains a specific trait, the `hasTrait<>`
+method may be used. This takes as a template parameter the trait class, which is
+the same as the one passed when attaching the trait to an operation.
+
+```c++
+Operation *op = ..;
+if (op->hasTrait<MyTrait>() || op->hasTrait<MyParametricTrait<10>::Impl>())
+  ...;
+```
+
+## Trait List
+
+MLIR provides a suite of traits that provide various functionalities that are
+common across many different operations. Below is a list of some key traits that
+may be used directly by any dialect. The format of the header for each trait
+section goes as follows:
+
+*   `Header`
+    -   (`C++ class` -- `ODS class`(if applicable))
+
+### Broadcastable
+
+*   `OpTrait::ResultsBroadcastableShape` -- `ResultsBroadcastableShape`
+
+This trait adds the property that the operation is known to have
+[broadcast-compatible](https://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/user/basics.broadcasting.html)
+operands and its result types' shape is the broadcast compatible with the shape
+of the broadcasted operands. Specifically, starting from the most varying
+dimension, each dimension pair of the two operands' shapes should either be the
+same or one of them is one. Also, the result shape should have the corresponding
+dimension equal to the larger one, if known. Shapes are checked partially if
+ranks or dimensions are not known. For example, an op with `tensor<?x2xf32>` and
+`tensor<2xf32>` as operand types and `tensor<3x2xf32>` as the result type is
+broadcast-compatible.
+
+This trait requires that the operands are either vector or tensor types.
+
+### Commutative
+
+*   `OpTrait::IsCommutative` -- `Commutative`
+
+This trait adds the property that the operation is commutative, i.e. `X op Y ==
+Y op X`
+
+### Function-Like
+
+*   `OpTrait::FunctionLike`
+
+This trait provides APIs for operations that behave like functions. In
+particular:
+
+-   Ops must be symbols, i.e. also have the `Symbol` trait;
+-   Ops have a single region with multiple blocks that corresponds to the body
+    of the function;
+-   the absence of a region corresponds to an external function;
+-   arguments of the first block of the region are treated as function
+    arguments;
+-   they can have argument and result attributes that are stored in dictionary
+    attributes on the operation itself.
+
+This trait does *NOT* provide type support for the functions, meaning that
+concrete Ops must handle the type of the declared or defined function.
+`getTypeAttrName()` is a convenience function that returns the name of the
+attribute that can be used to store the function type, but the trait makes no
+assumption based on it.
+
+### HasParent
+
+*   `OpTrait::HasParent<typename ParentOpType>` -- `HasParent<string op>`
+
+This trait provides APIs and verifiers for operations that can only be nested
+within regions that are attached to operations of `ParentOpType`.
+
+### IsolatedFromAbove
+
+*   `OpTrait::IsIsolatedFromAbove` -- `IsolatedFromAbove`
+
+This trait signals that the regions of an operations are known to be isolated
+from above. This trait asserts that the regions of an operation will not
+capture, or reference, SSA values defined above the region scope. This means
+that the following is invalid if `foo.region_op` is defined as
+`IsolatedFromAbove`:
+
+```mlir
+%result = constant 10 : i32
+foo.region_op {
+  foo.yield %result : i32
+}
+```
+
+This trait is an important structural property of the IR, and enables operations
+to have [passes](WritingAPass.md) scheduled under them.
+
+### NoSideEffect
+
+*   `OpTrait::HasNoSideEffect` -- `NoSideEffect`
+
+This trait signifies that the operation is pure and has no visible side effects.
+
+### Single Block with Implicit Terminator
+
+*   `OpTrait::SingleBlockImplicitTerminator<typename TerminatorOpType>` :
+    `SingleBlockImplicitTerminator<string op>`
+
+This trait provides APIs and verifiers for operations with regions that have a
+single block that must terminate with `TerminatorOpType`.
+
+### Symbol
+
+*   `OpTrait::Symbol` -- `Symbol`
+
+This trait is used for operations that define a
+[`Symbol`](SymbolsAndSymbolTables.md#symbol).
+
+### SymbolTable
+
+*   `OpTrait::SymbolTable` -- `SymbolTable`
+
+This trait is used for operations that define a
+[`SymbolTable`](SymbolsAndSymbolTables.md#symbol-table).
+
+### Terminator
+
+*   `OpTrait::IsTerminator` -- `Terminator`
+
+This trait provides verification and functionality for operations that are known
+to be [terminators](LangRef.md#terminator-operations).