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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/CodingStyle')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/CodingStyle | 70 | 
1 files changed, 65 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/CodingStyle b/Documentation/CodingStyle index 3171822c22a5..618a33c940df 100644 --- a/Documentation/CodingStyle +++ b/Documentation/CodingStyle @@ -392,7 +392,12 @@ The goto statement comes in handy when a function exits from multiple  locations and some common work such as cleanup has to be done.  If there is no  cleanup needed then just return directly. -The rationale is: +Choose label names which say what the goto does or why the goto exists.  An +example of a good name could be "out_buffer:" if the goto frees "buffer".  Avoid +using GW-BASIC names like "err1:" and "err2:".  Also don't name them after the +goto location like "err_kmalloc_failed:" + +The rationale for using gotos is:  - unconditional statements are easier to understand and follow  - nesting is reduced @@ -403,9 +408,10 @@ The rationale is:  int fun(int a)  {  	int result = 0; -	char *buffer = kmalloc(SIZE); +	char *buffer; -	if (buffer == NULL) +	buffer = kmalloc(SIZE, GFP_KERNEL); +	if (!buffer)  		return -ENOMEM;  	if (condition1) { @@ -413,14 +419,25 @@ int fun(int a)  			...  		}  		result = 1; -		goto out; +		goto out_buffer;  	}  	... -out: +out_buffer:  	kfree(buffer);  	return result;  } +A common type of bug to be aware of it "one err bugs" which look like this: + +err: +	kfree(foo->bar); +	kfree(foo); +	return ret; + +The bug in this code is that on some exit paths "foo" is NULL.  Normally the +fix for this is to split it up into two error labels "err_bar:" and "err_foo:". + +  		Chapter 8: Commenting  Comments are good, but there is also a danger of over-commenting.  NEVER @@ -845,6 +862,49 @@ next instruction in the assembly output:  	     : /* outputs */ : /* inputs */ : /* clobbers */); +		Chapter 20: Conditional Compilation + +Wherever possible, don't use preprocessor conditionals (#if, #ifdef) in .c +files; doing so makes code harder to read and logic harder to follow.  Instead, +use such conditionals in a header file defining functions for use in those .c +files, providing no-op stub versions in the #else case, and then call those +functions unconditionally from .c files.  The compiler will avoid generating +any code for the stub calls, producing identical results, but the logic will +remain easy to follow. + +Prefer to compile out entire functions, rather than portions of functions or +portions of expressions.  Rather than putting an ifdef in an expression, factor +out part or all of the expression into a separate helper function and apply the +conditional to that function. + +If you have a function or variable which may potentially go unused in a +particular configuration, and the compiler would warn about its definition +going unused, mark the definition as __maybe_unused rather than wrapping it in +a preprocessor conditional.  (However, if a function or variable *always* goes +unused, delete it.) + +Within code, where possible, use the IS_ENABLED macro to convert a Kconfig +symbol into a C boolean expression, and use it in a normal C conditional: + +	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SOMETHING)) { +		... +	} + +The compiler will constant-fold the conditional away, and include or exclude +the block of code just as with an #ifdef, so this will not add any runtime +overhead.  However, this approach still allows the C compiler to see the code +inside the block, and check it for correctness (syntax, types, symbol +references, etc).  Thus, you still have to use an #ifdef if the code inside the +block references symbols that will not exist if the condition is not met. + +At the end of any non-trivial #if or #ifdef block (more than a few lines), +place a comment after the #endif on the same line, noting the conditional +expression used.  For instance: + +#ifdef CONFIG_SOMETHING +... +#endif /* CONFIG_SOMETHING */ +  		Appendix I: References  |