Add Windows-specific build notes to installation guide

[AshwiniBokka]

Summary

Adds Windows-specific build notes to the TVM installation documentation (docs/install/from_source.rst).

Changes

• Added "Windows-Specific Build Notes" section after "Step 5. Extra Python Dependencies"
• Covers common Windows issues and solutions based on contributor experience

Content Includes:

1. File Encoding: UTF-8 without BOM (prevents SyntaxError: invalid non-printable character U+FEFF in CI)
2. Path Conventions: Forward vs backslash usage in Python/CMake
3. CUDA Configuration: Environment setup for CUDA builds on Windows
4. CMake & Compiler: Visual Studio generator setup and Python path configuration
5. Common Issues: Solutions for frequent Windows build problems
6. Development Tips: Git configuration for line endings, VS Code settings
7. WSL2 Alternative: Linux-like environment option for Windows users

Motivation

As a Windows contributor to TVM, I encountered several platform-specific issues that could be prevented with better documentation. These notes will help future Windows users:

• Avoid BOM character errors that cause CI failures
• Configure paths correctly for TVM's build system
• Set up CUDA development environment on Windows
• Troubleshoot common Windows-specific build failures

Testing

• Verified RST syntax and formatting
• Checked logical placement within document flow
• Content based on actual Windows development experience with TVM

Related

• Previous contribution: Fix Customize Optimization tutorial import error #18584 #18697 (improved tutorial error handling)
• Addresses undocumented Windows-specific considerations in build process

[gemini-code-assist]

Summary of Changes

Hello @AshwiniBokka, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request significantly enhances the TVM installation documentation by introducing a dedicated section for Windows-specific build considerations. It aims to streamline the setup process for Windows contributors by providing clear guidance on common platform-specific issues and their resolutions, thereby reducing friction and improving the overall developer experience on this operating system.

Highlights

• Documentation Enhancement: A new "Windows-Specific Build Notes" section has been added to the TVM installation guide (docs/install/from_source.rst).
• Comprehensive Guidance: This new section addresses various Windows-specific challenges, including file encoding (UTF-8 without BOM), path conventions (forward slashes), CUDA configuration, CMake and compiler setup, Git configuration for line endings, and VS Code settings.
• Troubleshooting & Alternatives: It provides solutions for common Windows build issues and suggests WSL2 as a Linux-like alternative for Windows users.

🧠 New Feature in Public Preview: You can now enable Memory to help Gemini Code Assist learn from your team's feedback. This makes future code reviews more consistent and personalized to your project's style. Click here to enable Memory in your admin console.

Using Gemini Code Assist

The full guide for Gemini Code Assist can be found on our documentation page, here are some quick tips.

Invoking Gemini

You can request assistance from Gemini at any point by creating a comment using either /gemini <command> or @gemini-code-assist <command>. Below is a summary of the supported commands on the current page.

Feature	Command	Description
Code Review	/gemini review	Performs a code review for the current pull request in its current state.
Pull Request Summary	/gemini summary	Provides a summary of the current pull request in its current state.
Comment	@gemini-code-assist	Responds in comments when explicitly tagged, both in pull request comments and review comments.
Help	/gemini help	Displays a list of available commands.

Customization

To customize Gemini Code Assist for GitHub experience, repository maintainers can create a configuration file and/or provide a custom code review style guide (such as PEP-8 for Python) by creating and adding files to a .gemini/ folder in the base of the repository. Detailed instructions can be found here.

Limitations & Feedback

Gemini Code Assist may make mistakes. Please leave feedback on any instances where its feedback is incorrect or counter productive. You can react with 👍 and 👎 on @gemini-code-assist comments. If you're interested in giving your feedback about your experience with Gemini Code Assist for Github and other Google products, sign up here.

You can also get AI-powered code generation, chat, as well as code reviews directly in the IDE at no cost with the Gemini Code Assist IDE Extension.

Footnotes

1. Review the Privacy Notices, Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy, Terms of Service, and learn how to configure Gemini Code Assist in GitHub here. Gemini can make mistakes, so double check it and use code with caution. ↩

[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request adds valuable Windows-specific build notes to the installation guide, which will be a great help for developers on that platform. The content is well-structured and covers common pain points. I have two main suggestions to enhance this contribution. Firstly, the command provided for enabling CUDA is incorrect and will not work as intended; it needs to be revised to instruct users to edit the config.cmake file. Secondly, the heading levels in the new section are inconsistent with the rest of the document's structure, which could lead to rendering issues. I've provided recommendations to adjust the heading hierarchy for consistency.

[mshr-h]

Thanks for the PR. I think it would be useful to keep the CUDA and CMake sections under “Building on Windows.” The rest depends on the developer environment or is more general, so I don’t think we need to include it in this document. @AshwiniBokka

cc @tlopex @guan404ming

[AshwiniBokka]

@mshr-h Updated as per your feedback:

• Moved CUDA Configuration under "Building on Windows"
• Moved CMake & Compiler Setup under "Building on Windows"
• Removed environment/general content
• Removed duplicate sections

Ready for review! 🙏

[guan404ming]

Thanks for the PR. I think it would be useful to keep the CUDA and CMake sections under “Building on Windows.” The rest depends on the developer environment or is more general, so I don’t think we need to include it in this document.

This makes sense to me.

Updated as per your feedback:

Generally looks good. But since I don't have windows device to test locally, I'm afraid that I couldn't provide deeper comments here. Sorry about that.