LLVM is a set of reusable compiler and toolchain technologies that includes an intermediate representation (IR), optimizers, code generators, and debugging tools. It decouples the front end and back end of compilers to support multiple languages and instruction sets. LLVM works by taking source code, generating LLVM IR, running optimizations on the IR, and creating object files, assembly, or machine code. The IR uses static single assignment form and phi nodes to simplify analysis and optimization.