CodingStyle 29 KB

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