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1 | |
2 | Linux kernel coding style |
3 | |
4 | This is a short document describing the preferred coding style for the |
5 | linux kernel. Coding style is very personal, and I won't _force_ my |
6 | views on anybody, but this is what goes for anything that I have to be |
7 | able to maintain, and I'd prefer it for most other things too. Please |
8 | at least consider the points made here. |
9 | |
10 | First off, I'd suggest printing out a copy of the GNU coding standards, |
11 | and NOT read it. Burn them, it's a great symbolic gesture. |
12 | |
13 | Anyway, here goes: |
14 | |
15 | |
16 | Chapter 1: Indentation |
17 | |
18 | Tabs are 8 characters, and thus indentations are also 8 characters. |
19 | There are heretic movements that try to make indentations 4 (or even 2!) |
20 | characters deep, and that is akin to trying to define the value of PI to |
21 | be 3. |
22 | |
23 | Rationale: The whole idea behind indentation is to clearly define where |
24 | a block of control starts and ends. Especially when you've been looking |
25 | at your screen for 20 straight hours, you'll find it a lot easier to see |
26 | how the indentation works if you have large indentations. |
27 | |
28 | Now, some people will claim that having 8-character indentations makes |
29 | the code move too far to the right, and makes it hard to read on a |
30 | 80-character terminal screen. The answer to that is that if you need |
31 | more than 3 levels of indentation, you're screwed anyway, and should fix |
32 | your program. |
33 | |
34 | In short, 8-char indents make things easier to read, and have the added |
35 | benefit of warning you when you're nesting your functions too deep. |
36 | Heed that warning. |
37 | |
38 | The preferred way to ease multiple indentation levels in a switch statement is |
39 | to align the "switch" and its subordinate "case" labels in the same column |
40 | instead of "double-indenting" the "case" labels. E.g.: |
41 | |
42 | switch (suffix) { |
43 | case 'G': |
44 | case 'g': |
45 | mem <<= 30; |
46 | break; |
47 | case 'M': |
48 | case 'm': |
49 | mem <<= 20; |
50 | break; |
51 | case 'K': |
52 | case 'k': |
53 | mem <<= 10; |
54 | /* fall through */ |
55 | default: |
56 | break; |
57 | } |
58 | |
59 | |
60 | Don't put multiple statements on a single line unless you have |
61 | something to hide: |
62 | |
63 | if (condition) do_this; |
64 | do_something_everytime; |
65 | |
66 | Don't put multiple assignments on a single line either. Kernel coding style |
67 | is super simple. Avoid tricky expressions. |
68 | |
69 | Outside of comments, documentation and except in Kconfig, spaces are never |
70 | used for indentation, and the above example is deliberately broken. |
71 | |
72 | Get a decent editor and don't leave whitespace at the end of lines. |
73 | |
74 | |
75 | Chapter 2: Breaking long lines and strings |
76 | |
77 | Coding style is all about readability and maintainability using commonly |
78 | available tools. |
79 | |
80 | The limit on the length of lines is 80 columns and this is a strongly |
81 | preferred limit. |
82 | |
83 | Statements longer than 80 columns will be broken into sensible chunks. |
84 | Descendants are always substantially shorter than the parent and are placed |
85 | substantially to the right. The same applies to function headers with a long |
86 | argument list. Long strings are as well broken into shorter strings. The |
87 | only exception to this is where exceeding 80 columns significantly increases |
88 | readability and does not hide information. |
89 | |
90 | void fun(int a, int b, int c) |
91 | { |
92 | if (condition) |
93 | printk(KERN_WARNING "Warning this is a long printk with " |
94 | "3 parameters a: %u b: %u " |
95 | "c: %u \n", a, b, c); |
96 | else |
97 | next_statement; |
98 | } |
99 | |
100 | Chapter 3: Placing Braces and Spaces |
101 | |
102 | The other issue that always comes up in C styling is the placement of |
103 | braces. Unlike the indent size, there are few technical reasons to |
104 | choose one placement strategy over the other, but the preferred way, as |
105 | shown to us by the prophets Kernighan and Ritchie, is to put the opening |
106 | brace last on the line, and put the closing brace first, thusly: |
107 | |
108 | if (x is true) { |
109 | we do y |
110 | } |
111 | |
112 | This applies to all non-function statement blocks (if, switch, for, |
113 | while, do). E.g.: |
114 | |
115 | switch (action) { |
116 | case KOBJ_ADD: |
117 | return "add"; |
118 | case KOBJ_REMOVE: |
119 | return "remove"; |
120 | case KOBJ_CHANGE: |
121 | return "change"; |
122 | default: |
123 | return NULL; |
124 | } |
125 | |
126 | However, there is one special case, namely functions: they have the |
127 | opening brace at the beginning of the next line, thus: |
128 | |
129 | int function(int x) |
130 | { |
131 | body of function |
132 | } |
133 | |
134 | Heretic people all over the world have claimed that this inconsistency |
135 | is ... well ... inconsistent, but all right-thinking people know that |
136 | (a) K&R are _right_ and (b) K&R are right. Besides, functions are |
137 | special anyway (you can't nest them in C). |
138 | |
139 | Note that the closing brace is empty on a line of its own, _except_ in |
140 | the cases where it is followed by a continuation of the same statement, |
141 | ie a "while" in a do-statement or an "else" in an if-statement, like |
142 | this: |
143 | |
144 | do { |
145 | body of do-loop |
146 | } while (condition); |
147 | |
148 | and |
149 | |
150 | if (x == y) { |
151 | .. |
152 | } else if (x > y) { |
153 | ... |
154 | } else { |
155 | .... |
156 | } |
157 | |
158 | Rationale: K&R. |
159 | |
160 | Also, note that this brace-placement also minimizes the number of empty |
161 | (or almost empty) lines, without any loss of readability. Thus, as the |
162 | supply of new-lines on your screen is not a renewable resource (think |
163 | 25-line terminal screens here), you have more empty lines to put |
164 | comments on. |
165 | |
166 | Do not unnecessarily use braces where a single statement will do. |
167 | |
168 | if (condition) |
169 | action(); |
170 | |
171 | This does not apply if one branch of a conditional statement is a single |
172 | statement. Use braces in both branches. |
173 | |
174 | if (condition) { |
175 | do_this(); |
176 | do_that(); |
177 | } else { |
178 | otherwise(); |
179 | } |
180 | |
181 | 3.1: Spaces |
182 | |
183 | Linux kernel style for use of spaces depends (mostly) on |
184 | function-versus-keyword usage. Use a space after (most) keywords. The |
185 | notable exceptions are sizeof, typeof, alignof, and __attribute__, which look |
186 | somewhat like functions (and are usually used with parentheses in Linux, |
187 | although they are not required in the language, as in: "sizeof info" after |
188 | "struct fileinfo info;" is declared). |
189 | |
190 | So use a space after these keywords: |
191 | if, switch, case, for, do, while |
192 | but not with sizeof, typeof, alignof, or __attribute__. E.g., |
193 | s = sizeof(struct file); |
194 | |
195 | Do not add spaces around (inside) parenthesized expressions. This example is |
196 | *bad*: |
197 | |
198 | s = sizeof( struct file ); |
199 | |
200 | When declaring pointer data or a function that returns a pointer type, the |
201 | preferred use of '*' is adjacent to the data name or function name and not |
202 | adjacent to the type name. Examples: |
203 | |
204 | char *linux_banner; |
205 | unsigned long long memparse(char *ptr, char **retptr); |
206 | char *match_strdup(substring_t *s); |
207 | |
208 | Use one space around (on each side of) most binary and ternary operators, |
209 | such as any of these: |
210 | |
211 | = + - < > * / % | & ^ <= >= == != ? : |
212 | |
213 | but no space after unary operators: |
214 | & * + - ~ ! sizeof typeof alignof __attribute__ defined |
215 | |
216 | no space before the postfix increment & decrement unary operators: |
217 | ++ -- |
218 | |
219 | no space after the prefix increment & decrement unary operators: |
220 | ++ -- |
221 | |
222 | and no space around the '.' and "->" structure member operators. |
223 | |
224 | Do not leave trailing whitespace at the ends of lines. Some editors with |
225 | "smart" indentation will insert whitespace at the beginning of new lines as |
226 | appropriate, so you can start typing the next line of code right away. |
227 | However, some such editors do not remove the whitespace if you end up not |
228 | putting a line of code there, such as if you leave a blank line. As a result, |
229 | you end up with lines containing trailing whitespace. |
230 | |
231 | Git will warn you about patches that introduce trailing whitespace, and can |
232 | optionally strip the trailing whitespace for you; however, if applying a series |
233 | of patches, this may make later patches in the series fail by changing their |
234 | context lines. |
235 | |
236 | |
237 | Chapter 4: Naming |
238 | |
239 | C is a Spartan language, and so should your naming be. Unlike Modula-2 |
240 | and Pascal programmers, C programmers do not use cute names like |
241 | ThisVariableIsATemporaryCounter. A C programmer would call that |
242 | variable "tmp", which is much easier to write, and not the least more |
243 | difficult to understand. |
244 | |
245 | HOWEVER, while mixed-case names are frowned upon, descriptive names for |
246 | global variables are a must. To call a global function "foo" is a |
247 | shooting offense. |
248 | |
249 | GLOBAL variables (to be used only if you _really_ need them) need to |
250 | have descriptive names, as do global functions. If you have a function |
251 | that counts the number of active users, you should call that |
252 | "count_active_users()" or similar, you should _not_ call it "cntusr()". |
253 | |
254 | Encoding the type of a function into the name (so-called Hungarian |
255 | notation) is brain damaged - the compiler knows the types anyway and can |
256 | check those, and it only confuses the programmer. No wonder MicroSoft |
257 | makes buggy programs. |
258 | |
259 | LOCAL variable names should be short, and to the point. If you have |
260 | some random integer loop counter, it should probably be called "i". |
261 | Calling it "loop_counter" is non-productive, if there is no chance of it |
262 | being mis-understood. Similarly, "tmp" can be just about any type of |
263 | variable that is used to hold a temporary value. |
264 | |
265 | If you are afraid to mix up your local variable names, you have another |
266 | problem, which is called the function-growth-hormone-imbalance syndrome. |
267 | See chapter 6 (Functions). |
268 | |
269 | |
270 | Chapter 5: Typedefs |
271 | |
272 | Please don't use things like "vps_t". |
273 | |
274 | It's a _mistake_ to use typedef for structures and pointers. When you see a |
275 | |
276 | vps_t a; |
277 | |
278 | in the source, what does it mean? |
279 | |
280 | In contrast, if it says |
281 | |
282 | struct virtual_container *a; |
283 | |
284 | you can actually tell what "a" is. |
285 | |
286 | Lots of people think that typedefs "help readability". Not so. They are |
287 | useful only for: |
288 | |
289 | (a) totally opaque objects (where the typedef is actively used to _hide_ |
290 | what the object is). |
291 | |
292 | Example: "pte_t" etc. opaque objects that you can only access using |
293 | the proper accessor functions. |
294 | |
295 | NOTE! Opaqueness and "accessor functions" are not good in themselves. |
296 | The reason we have them for things like pte_t etc. is that there |
297 | really is absolutely _zero_ portably accessible information there. |
298 | |
299 | (b) Clear integer types, where the abstraction _helps_ avoid confusion |
300 | whether it is "int" or "long". |
301 | |
302 | u8/u16/u32 are perfectly fine typedefs, although they fit into |
303 | category (d) better than here. |
304 | |
305 | NOTE! Again - there needs to be a _reason_ for this. If something is |
306 | "unsigned long", then there's no reason to do |
307 | |
308 | typedef unsigned long myflags_t; |
309 | |
310 | but if there is a clear reason for why it under certain circumstances |
311 | might be an "unsigned int" and under other configurations might be |
312 | "unsigned long", then by all means go ahead and use a typedef. |
313 | |
314 | (c) when you use sparse to literally create a _new_ type for |
315 | type-checking. |
316 | |
317 | (d) New types which are identical to standard C99 types, in certain |
318 | exceptional circumstances. |
319 | |
320 | Although it would only take a short amount of time for the eyes and |
321 | brain to become accustomed to the standard types like 'uint32_t', |
322 | some people object to their use anyway. |
323 | |
324 | Therefore, the Linux-specific 'u8/u16/u32/u64' types and their |
325 | signed equivalents which are identical to standard types are |
326 | permitted -- although they are not mandatory in new code of your |
327 | own. |
328 | |
329 | When editing existing code which already uses one or the other set |
330 | of types, you should conform to the existing choices in that code. |
331 | |
332 | (e) Types safe for use in userspace. |
333 | |
334 | In certain structures which are visible to userspace, we cannot |
335 | require C99 types and cannot use the 'u32' form above. Thus, we |
336 | use __u32 and similar types in all structures which are shared |
337 | with userspace. |
338 | |
339 | Maybe there are other cases too, but the rule should basically be to NEVER |
340 | EVER use a typedef unless you can clearly match one of those rules. |
341 | |
342 | In general, a pointer, or a struct that has elements that can reasonably |
343 | be directly accessed should _never_ be a typedef. |
344 | |
345 | |
346 | Chapter 6: Functions |
347 | |
348 | Functions should be short and sweet, and do just one thing. They should |
349 | fit on one or two screenfuls of text (the ISO/ANSI screen size is 80x24, |
350 | as we all know), and do one thing and do that well. |
351 | |
352 | The maximum length of a function is inversely proportional to the |
353 | complexity and indentation level of that function. So, if you have a |
354 | conceptually simple function that is just one long (but simple) |
355 | case-statement, where you have to do lots of small things for a lot of |
356 | different cases, it's OK to have a longer function. |
357 | |
358 | However, if you have a complex function, and you suspect that a |
359 | less-than-gifted first-year high-school student might not even |
360 | understand what the function is all about, you should adhere to the |
361 | maximum limits all the more closely. Use helper functions with |
362 | descriptive names (you can ask the compiler to in-line them if you think |
363 | it's performance-critical, and it will probably do a better job of it |
364 | than you would have done). |
365 | |
366 | Another measure of the function is the number of local variables. They |
367 | shouldn't exceed 5-10, or you're doing something wrong. Re-think the |
368 | function, and split it into smaller pieces. A human brain can |
369 | generally easily keep track of about 7 different things, anything more |
370 | and it gets confused. You know you're brilliant, but maybe you'd like |
371 | to understand what you did 2 weeks from now. |
372 | |
373 | In source files, separate functions with one blank line. If the function is |
374 | exported, the EXPORT* macro for it should follow immediately after the closing |
375 | function brace line. E.g.: |
376 | |
377 | int system_is_up(void) |
378 | { |
379 | return system_state == SYSTEM_RUNNING; |
380 | } |
381 | EXPORT_SYMBOL(system_is_up); |
382 | |
383 | In function prototypes, include parameter names with their data types. |
384 | Although this is not required by the C language, it is preferred in Linux |
385 | because it is a simple way to add valuable information for the reader. |
386 | |
387 | |
388 | Chapter 7: Centralized exiting of functions |
389 | |
390 | Albeit deprecated by some people, the equivalent of the goto statement is |
391 | used frequently by compilers in form of the unconditional jump instruction. |
392 | |
393 | The goto statement comes in handy when a function exits from multiple |
394 | locations and some common work such as cleanup has to be done. |
395 | |
396 | The rationale is: |
397 | |
398 | - unconditional statements are easier to understand and follow |
399 | - nesting is reduced |
400 | - errors by not updating individual exit points when making |
401 | modifications are prevented |
402 | - saves the compiler work to optimize redundant code away ;) |
403 | |
404 | int fun(int a) |
405 | { |
406 | int result = 0; |
407 | char *buffer = kmalloc(SIZE); |
408 | |
409 | if (buffer == NULL) |
410 | return -ENOMEM; |
411 | |
412 | if (condition1) { |
413 | while (loop1) { |
414 | ... |
415 | } |
416 | result = 1; |
417 | goto out; |
418 | } |
419 | ... |
420 | out: |
421 | kfree(buffer); |
422 | return result; |
423 | } |
424 | |
425 | Chapter 8: Commenting |
426 | |
427 | Comments are good, but there is also a danger of over-commenting. NEVER |
428 | try to explain HOW your code works in a comment: it's much better to |
429 | write the code so that the _working_ is obvious, and it's a waste of |
430 | time to explain badly written code. |
431 | |
432 | Generally, you want your comments to tell WHAT your code does, not HOW. |
433 | Also, try to avoid putting comments inside a function body: if the |
434 | function is so complex that you need to separately comment parts of it, |
435 | you should probably go back to chapter 6 for a while. You can make |
436 | small comments to note or warn about something particularly clever (or |
437 | ugly), but try to avoid excess. Instead, put the comments at the head |
438 | of the function, telling people what it does, and possibly WHY it does |
439 | it. |
440 | |
441 | When commenting the kernel API functions, please use the kernel-doc format. |
442 | See the files Documentation/kernel-doc-nano-HOWTO.txt and scripts/kernel-doc |
443 | for details. |
444 | |
445 | Linux style for comments is the C89 "/* ... */" style. |
446 | Don't use C99-style "// ..." comments. |
447 | |
448 | The preferred style for long (multi-line) comments is: |
449 | |
450 | /* |
451 | * This is the preferred style for multi-line |
452 | * comments in the Linux kernel source code. |
453 | * Please use it consistently. |
454 | * |
455 | * Description: A column of asterisks on the left side, |
456 | * with beginning and ending almost-blank lines. |
457 | */ |
458 | |
459 | It's also important to comment data, whether they are basic types or derived |
460 | types. To this end, use just one data declaration per line (no commas for |
461 | multiple data declarations). This leaves you room for a small comment on each |
462 | item, explaining its use. |
463 | |
464 | |
465 | Chapter 9: You've made a mess of it |
466 | |
467 | That's OK, we all do. You've probably been told by your long-time Unix |
468 | user helper that "GNU emacs" automatically formats the C sources for |
469 | you, and you've noticed that yes, it does do that, but the defaults it |
470 | uses are less than desirable (in fact, they are worse than random |
471 | typing - an infinite number of monkeys typing into GNU emacs would never |
472 | make a good program). |
473 | |
474 | So, you can either get rid of GNU emacs, or change it to use saner |
475 | values. To do the latter, you can stick the following in your .emacs file: |
476 | |
477 | (defun c-lineup-arglist-tabs-only (ignored) |
478 | "Line up argument lists by tabs, not spaces" |
479 | (let* ((anchor (c-langelem-pos c-syntactic-element)) |
480 | (column (c-langelem-2nd-pos c-syntactic-element)) |
481 | (offset (- (1+ column) anchor)) |
482 | (steps (floor offset c-basic-offset))) |
483 | (* (max steps 1) |
484 | c-basic-offset))) |
485 | |
486 | (add-hook 'c-mode-common-hook |
487 | (lambda () |
488 | ;; Add kernel style |
489 | (c-add-style |
490 | "linux-tabs-only" |
491 | '("linux" (c-offsets-alist |
492 | (arglist-cont-nonempty |
493 | c-lineup-gcc-asm-reg |
494 | c-lineup-arglist-tabs-only)))))) |
495 | |
496 | (add-hook 'c-mode-hook |
497 | (lambda () |
498 | (let ((filename (buffer-file-name))) |
499 | ;; Enable kernel mode for the appropriate files |
500 | (when (and filename |
501 | (string-match (expand-file-name "~/src/linux-trees") |
502 | filename)) |
503 | (setq indent-tabs-mode t) |
504 | (c-set-style "linux-tabs-only"))))) |
505 | |
506 | This will make emacs go better with the kernel coding style for C |
507 | files below ~/src/linux-trees. |
508 | |
509 | But even if you fail in getting emacs to do sane formatting, not |
510 | everything is lost: use "indent". |
511 | |
512 | Now, again, GNU indent has the same brain-dead settings that GNU emacs |
513 | has, which is why you need to give it a few command line options. |
514 | However, that's not too bad, because even the makers of GNU indent |
515 | recognize the authority of K&R (the GNU people aren't evil, they are |
516 | just severely misguided in this matter), so you just give indent the |
517 | options "-kr -i8" (stands for "K&R, 8 character indents"), or use |
518 | "scripts/Lindent", which indents in the latest style. |
519 | |
520 | "indent" has a lot of options, and especially when it comes to comment |
521 | re-formatting you may want to take a look at the man page. But |
522 | remember: "indent" is not a fix for bad programming. |
523 | |
524 | |
525 | Chapter 10: Kconfig configuration files |
526 | |
527 | For all of the Kconfig* configuration files throughout the source tree, |
528 | the indentation is somewhat different. Lines under a "config" definition |
529 | are indented with one tab, while help text is indented an additional two |
530 | spaces. Example: |
531 | |
532 | config AUDIT |
533 | bool "Auditing support" |
534 | depends on NET |
535 | help |
536 | Enable auditing infrastructure that can be used with another |
537 | kernel subsystem, such as SELinux (which requires this for |
538 | logging of avc messages output). Does not do system-call |
539 | auditing without CONFIG_AUDITSYSCALL. |
540 | |
541 | Features that might still be considered unstable should be defined as |
542 | dependent on "EXPERIMENTAL": |
543 | |
544 | config SLUB |
545 | depends on EXPERIMENTAL && !ARCH_USES_SLAB_PAGE_STRUCT |
546 | bool "SLUB (Unqueued Allocator)" |
547 | ... |
548 | |
549 | while seriously dangerous features (such as write support for certain |
550 | filesystems) should advertise this prominently in their prompt string: |
551 | |
552 | config ADFS_FS_RW |
553 | bool "ADFS write support (DANGEROUS)" |
554 | depends on ADFS_FS |
555 | ... |
556 | |
557 | For full documentation on the configuration files, see the file |
558 | Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt. |
559 | |
560 | |
561 | Chapter 11: Data structures |
562 | |
563 | Data structures that have visibility outside the single-threaded |
564 | environment they are created and destroyed in should always have |
565 | reference counts. In the kernel, garbage collection doesn't exist (and |
566 | outside the kernel garbage collection is slow and inefficient), which |
567 | means that you absolutely _have_ to reference count all your uses. |
568 | |
569 | Reference counting means that you can avoid locking, and allows multiple |
570 | users to have access to the data structure in parallel - and not having |
571 | to worry about the structure suddenly going away from under them just |
572 | because they slept or did something else for a while. |
573 | |
574 | Note that locking is _not_ a replacement for reference counting. |
575 | Locking is used to keep data structures coherent, while reference |
576 | counting is a memory management technique. Usually both are needed, and |
577 | they are not to be confused with each other. |
578 | |
579 | Many data structures can indeed have two levels of reference counting, |
580 | when there are users of different "classes". The subclass count counts |
581 | the number of subclass users, and decrements the global count just once |
582 | when the subclass count goes to zero. |
583 | |
584 | Examples of this kind of "multi-level-reference-counting" can be found in |
585 | memory management ("struct mm_struct": mm_users and mm_count), and in |
586 | filesystem code ("struct super_block": s_count and s_active). |
587 | |
588 | Remember: if another thread can find your data structure, and you don't |
589 | have a reference count on it, you almost certainly have a bug. |
590 | |
591 | |
592 | Chapter 12: Macros, Enums and RTL |
593 | |
594 | Names of macros defining constants and labels in enums are capitalized. |
595 | |
596 | #define CONSTANT 0x12345 |
597 | |
598 | Enums are preferred when defining several related constants. |
599 | |
600 | CAPITALIZED macro names are appreciated but macros resembling functions |
601 | may be named in lower case. |
602 | |
603 | Generally, inline functions are preferable to macros resembling functions. |
604 | |
605 | Macros with multiple statements should be enclosed in a do - while block: |
606 | |
607 | #define macrofun(a, b, c) \ |
608 | do { \ |
609 | if (a == 5) \ |
610 | do_this(b, c); \ |
611 | } while (0) |
612 | |
613 | Things to avoid when using macros: |
614 | |
615 | 1) macros that affect control flow: |
616 | |
617 | #define FOO(x) \ |
618 | do { \ |
619 | if (blah(x) < 0) \ |
620 | return -EBUGGERED; \ |
621 | } while(0) |
622 | |
623 | is a _very_ bad idea. It looks like a function call but exits the "calling" |
624 | function; don't break the internal parsers of those who will read the code. |
625 | |
626 | 2) macros that depend on having a local variable with a magic name: |
627 | |
628 | #define FOO(val) bar(index, val) |
629 | |
630 | might look like a good thing, but it's confusing as hell when one reads the |
631 | code and it's prone to breakage from seemingly innocent changes. |
632 | |
633 | 3) macros with arguments that are used as l-values: FOO(x) = y; will |
634 | bite you if somebody e.g. turns FOO into an inline function. |
635 | |
636 | 4) forgetting about precedence: macros defining constants using expressions |
637 | must enclose the expression in parentheses. Beware of similar issues with |
638 | macros using parameters. |
639 | |
640 | #define CONSTANT 0x4000 |
641 | #define CONSTEXP (CONSTANT | 3) |
642 | |
643 | The cpp manual deals with macros exhaustively. The gcc internals manual also |
644 | covers RTL which is used frequently with assembly language in the kernel. |
645 | |
646 | |
647 | Chapter 13: Printing kernel messages |
648 | |
649 | Kernel developers like to be seen as literate. Do mind the spelling |
650 | of kernel messages to make a good impression. Do not use crippled |
651 | words like "dont"; use "do not" or "don't" instead. Make the messages |
652 | concise, clear, and unambiguous. |
653 | |
654 | Kernel messages do not have to be terminated with a period. |
655 | |
656 | Printing numbers in parentheses (%d) adds no value and should be avoided. |
657 | |
658 | There are a number of driver model diagnostic macros in <linux/device.h> |
659 | which you should use to make sure messages are matched to the right device |
660 | and driver, and are tagged with the right level: dev_err(), dev_warn(), |
661 | dev_info(), and so forth. For messages that aren't associated with a |
662 | particular device, <linux/kernel.h> defines pr_debug() and pr_info(). |
663 | |
664 | Coming up with good debugging messages can be quite a challenge; and once |
665 | you have them, they can be a huge help for remote troubleshooting. Such |
666 | messages should be compiled out when the DEBUG symbol is not defined (that |
667 | is, by default they are not included). When you use dev_dbg() or pr_debug(), |
668 | that's automatic. Many subsystems have Kconfig options to turn on -DDEBUG. |
669 | A related convention uses VERBOSE_DEBUG to add dev_vdbg() messages to the |
670 | ones already enabled by DEBUG. |
671 | |
672 | |
673 | Chapter 14: Allocating memory |
674 | |
675 | The kernel provides the following general purpose memory allocators: |
676 | kmalloc(), kzalloc(), kcalloc(), and vmalloc(). Please refer to the API |
677 | documentation for further information about them. |
678 | |
679 | The preferred form for passing a size of a struct is the following: |
680 | |
681 | p = kmalloc(sizeof(*p), ...); |
682 | |
683 | The alternative form where struct name is spelled out hurts readability and |
684 | introduces an opportunity for a bug when the pointer variable type is changed |
685 | but the corresponding sizeof that is passed to a memory allocator is not. |
686 | |
687 | Casting the return value which is a void pointer is redundant. The conversion |
688 | from void pointer to any other pointer type is guaranteed by the C programming |
689 | language. |
690 | |
691 | |
692 | Chapter 15: The inline disease |
693 | |
694 | There appears to be a common misperception that gcc has a magic "make me |
695 | faster" speedup option called "inline". While the use of inlines can be |
696 | appropriate (for example as a means of replacing macros, see Chapter 12), it |
697 | very often is not. Abundant use of the inline keyword leads to a much bigger |
698 | kernel, which in turn slows the system as a whole down, due to a bigger |
699 | icache footprint for the CPU and simply because there is less memory |
700 | available for the pagecache. Just think about it; a pagecache miss causes a |
701 | disk seek, which easily takes 5 milliseconds. There are a LOT of cpu cycles |
702 | that can go into these 5 milliseconds. |
703 | |
704 | A reasonable rule of thumb is to not put inline at functions that have more |
705 | than 3 lines of code in them. An exception to this rule are the cases where |
706 | a parameter is known to be a compiletime constant, and as a result of this |
707 | constantness you *know* the compiler will be able to optimize most of your |
708 | function away at compile time. For a good example of this later case, see |
709 | the kmalloc() inline function. |
710 | |
711 | Often people argue that adding inline to functions that are static and used |
712 | only once is always a win since there is no space tradeoff. While this is |
713 | technically correct, gcc is capable of inlining these automatically without |
714 | help, and the maintenance issue of removing the inline when a second user |
715 | appears outweighs the potential value of the hint that tells gcc to do |
716 | something it would have done anyway. |
717 | |
718 | |
719 | Chapter 16: Function return values and names |
720 | |
721 | Functions can return values of many different kinds, and one of the |
722 | most common is a value indicating whether the function succeeded or |
723 | failed. Such a value can be represented as an error-code integer |
724 | (-Exxx = failure, 0 = success) or a "succeeded" boolean (0 = failure, |
725 | non-zero = success). |
726 | |
727 | Mixing up these two sorts of representations is a fertile source of |
728 | difficult-to-find bugs. If the C language included a strong distinction |
729 | between integers and booleans then the compiler would find these mistakes |
730 | for us... but it doesn't. To help prevent such bugs, always follow this |
731 | convention: |
732 | |
733 | If the name of a function is an action or an imperative command, |
734 | the function should return an error-code integer. If the name |
735 | is a predicate, the function should return a "succeeded" boolean. |
736 | |
737 | For example, "add work" is a command, and the add_work() function returns 0 |
738 | for success or -EBUSY for failure. In the same way, "PCI device present" is |
739 | a predicate, and the pci_dev_present() function returns 1 if it succeeds in |
740 | finding a matching device or 0 if it doesn't. |
741 | |
742 | All EXPORTed functions must respect this convention, and so should all |
743 | public functions. Private (static) functions need not, but it is |
744 | recommended that they do. |
745 | |
746 | Functions whose return value is the actual result of a computation, rather |
747 | than an indication of whether the computation succeeded, are not subject to |
748 | this rule. Generally they indicate failure by returning some out-of-range |
749 | result. Typical examples would be functions that return pointers; they use |
750 | NULL or the ERR_PTR mechanism to report failure. |
751 | |
752 | |
753 | Chapter 17: Don't re-invent the kernel macros |
754 | |
755 | The header file include/linux/kernel.h contains a number of macros that |
756 | you should use, rather than explicitly coding some variant of them yourself. |
757 | For example, if you need to calculate the length of an array, take advantage |
758 | of the macro |
759 | |
760 | #define ARRAY_SIZE(x) (sizeof(x) / sizeof((x)[0])) |
761 | |
762 | Similarly, if you need to calculate the size of some structure member, use |
763 | |
764 | #define FIELD_SIZEOF(t, f) (sizeof(((t*)0)->f)) |
765 | |
766 | There are also min() and max() macros that do strict type checking if you |
767 | need them. Feel free to peruse that header file to see what else is already |
768 | defined that you shouldn't reproduce in your code. |
769 | |
770 | |
771 | Chapter 18: Editor modelines and other cruft |
772 | |
773 | Some editors can interpret configuration information embedded in source files, |
774 | indicated with special markers. For example, emacs interprets lines marked |
775 | like this: |
776 | |
777 | -*- mode: c -*- |
778 | |
779 | Or like this: |
780 | |
781 | /* |
782 | Local Variables: |
783 | compile-command: "gcc -DMAGIC_DEBUG_FLAG foo.c" |
784 | End: |
785 | */ |
786 | |
787 | Vim interprets markers that look like this: |
788 | |
789 | /* vim:set sw=8 noet */ |
790 | |
791 | Do not include any of these in source files. People have their own personal |
792 | editor configurations, and your source files should not override them. This |
793 | includes markers for indentation and mode configuration. People may use their |
794 | own custom mode, or may have some other magic method for making indentation |
795 | work correctly. |
796 | |
797 | |
798 | |
799 | Appendix I: References |
800 | |
801 | The C Programming Language, Second Edition |
802 | by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie. |
803 | Prentice Hall, Inc., 1988. |
804 | ISBN 0-13-110362-8 (paperback), 0-13-110370-9 (hardback). |
805 | URL: http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/cbook/ |
806 | |
807 | The Practice of Programming |
808 | by Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike. |
809 | Addison-Wesley, Inc., 1999. |
810 | ISBN 0-201-61586-X. |
811 | URL: http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/tpop/ |
812 | |
813 | GNU manuals - where in compliance with K&R and this text - for cpp, gcc, |
814 | gcc internals and indent, all available from http://www.gnu.org/manual/ |
815 | |
816 | WG14 is the international standardization working group for the programming |
817 | language C, URL: http://www.open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG14/ |
818 | |
819 | Kernel CodingStyle, by greg@kroah.com at OLS 2002: |
820 | http://www.kroah.com/linux/talks/ols_2002_kernel_codingstyle_talk/html/ |
821 | |
822 | -- |
823 | Last updated on 2007-July-13. |
824 | |
825 |
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