# Demystifying Deep Learning Compiler Front End Bugs: An LLM-Aided Empirical Study

> Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.25651>
> Published: 2026-08-03 03:01:29+00:00

# Computer Science > Programming Languages

[Submitted on 28 Jul 2026]

# Title:Demystifying Deep Learning Compiler Frontend Bugs: An LLM-Aided Empirical Study

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Abstract:Deep learning compilers (DLCs) are designed to translate deep learning programs into optimized, hardware-specific code. Typically, DLC frontends translate programs into graph-based intermediate representations (IRs) to enable optimizations. Defects introduced during this stage (termed \emph{fBug}s) are severe yet understudied, as prior work predominantly focuses on low-level APIs and operators or treats DLCs as monolithic entities.

To bridge this gap, we conduct the first systematic empirical study of \emph{fBug}s in TorchDynamo, the default DLC frontend for PyTorch 2, the most popular DL framework. Leveraging a domain-knowledge-enhanced LLM-aided methodology, we analyze 123 \emph{fBug}s and construct a taxonomy comprising 7 root cause categories and 15 subcategories. Our findings provide actionable insights for DLC development and testing. Furthermore, we leverage the LLM to generate targeted, root cause-aware test cases to detect new bugs. We uncovered 23 previously unknown \emph{fBug}s in recent releases (15 confirmed) across eight (sub)categories, demonstrating the efficacy of our methodology in testing and hardening DLC frontends.

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