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Diffstat (limited to 'qemu/HACKING')
| -rw-r--r-- | qemu/HACKING | 159 |
1 files changed, 159 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/qemu/HACKING b/qemu/HACKING new file mode 100644 index 000000000..12fbc8afe --- /dev/null +++ b/qemu/HACKING @@ -0,0 +1,159 @@ +1. Preprocessor + +For variadic macros, stick with this C99-like syntax: + +#define DPRINTF(fmt, ...) \ + do { printf("IRQ: " fmt, ## __VA_ARGS__); } while (0) + +2. C types + +It should be common sense to use the right type, but we have collected +a few useful guidelines here. + +2.1. Scalars + +If you're using "int" or "long", odds are good that there's a better type. +If a variable is counting something, it should be declared with an +unsigned type. + +If it's host memory-size related, size_t should be a good choice (use +ssize_t only if required). Guest RAM memory offsets must use ram_addr_t, +but only for RAM, it may not cover whole guest address space. + +If it's file-size related, use off_t. +If it's file-offset related (i.e., signed), use off_t. +If it's just counting small numbers use "unsigned int"; +(on all but oddball embedded systems, you can assume that that +type is at least four bytes wide). + +In the event that you require a specific width, use a standard type +like int32_t, uint32_t, uint64_t, etc. The specific types are +mandatory for VMState fields. + +Don't use Linux kernel internal types like u32, __u32 or __le32. + +Use hwaddr for guest physical addresses except pcibus_t +for PCI addresses. In addition, ram_addr_t is a QEMU internal address +space that maps guest RAM physical addresses into an intermediate +address space that can map to host virtual address spaces. Generally +speaking, the size of guest memory can always fit into ram_addr_t but +it would not be correct to store an actual guest physical address in a +ram_addr_t. + +For CPU virtual addresses there are several possible types. +vaddr is the best type to use to hold a CPU virtual address in +target-independent code. It is guaranteed to be large enough to hold a +virtual address for any target, and it does not change size from target +to target. It is always unsigned. +target_ulong is a type the size of a virtual address on the CPU; this means +it may be 32 or 64 bits depending on which target is being built. It should +therefore be used only in target-specific code, and in some +performance-critical built-per-target core code such as the TLB code. +There is also a signed version, target_long. +abi_ulong is for the *-user targets, and represents a type the size of +'void *' in that target's ABI. (This may not be the same as the size of a +full CPU virtual address in the case of target ABIs which use 32 bit pointers +on 64 bit CPUs, like sparc32plus.) Definitions of structures that must match +the target's ABI must use this type for anything that on the target is defined +to be an 'unsigned long' or a pointer type. +There is also a signed version, abi_long. + +Of course, take all of the above with a grain of salt. If you're about +to use some system interface that requires a type like size_t, pid_t or +off_t, use matching types for any corresponding variables. + +Also, if you try to use e.g., "unsigned int" as a type, and that +conflicts with the signedness of a related variable, sometimes +it's best just to use the *wrong* type, if "pulling the thread" +and fixing all related variables would be too invasive. + +Finally, while using descriptive types is important, be careful not to +go overboard. If whatever you're doing causes warnings, or requires +casts, then reconsider or ask for help. + +2.2. Pointers + +Ensure that all of your pointers are "const-correct". +Unless a pointer is used to modify the pointed-to storage, +give it the "const" attribute. That way, the reader knows +up-front that this is a read-only pointer. Perhaps more +importantly, if we're diligent about this, when you see a non-const +pointer, you're guaranteed that it is used to modify the storage +it points to, or it is aliased to another pointer that is. + +2.3. Typedefs +Typedefs are used to eliminate the redundant 'struct' keyword. + +2.4. Reserved namespaces in C and POSIX +Underscore capital, double underscore, and underscore 't' suffixes should be +avoided. + +3. Low level memory management + +Use of the malloc/free/realloc/calloc/valloc/memalign/posix_memalign +APIs is not allowed in the QEMU codebase. Instead of these routines, +use the GLib memory allocation routines g_malloc/g_malloc0/g_new/ +g_new0/g_realloc/g_free or QEMU's qemu_memalign/qemu_blockalign/qemu_vfree +APIs. + +Please note that g_malloc will exit on allocation failure, so there +is no need to test for failure (as you would have to with malloc). +Calling g_malloc with a zero size is valid and will return NULL. + +Memory allocated by qemu_memalign or qemu_blockalign must be freed with +qemu_vfree, since breaking this will cause problems on Win32. + +4. String manipulation + +Do not use the strncpy function. As mentioned in the man page, it does *not* +guarantee a NULL-terminated buffer, which makes it extremely dangerous to use. +It also zeros trailing destination bytes out to the specified length. Instead, +use this similar function when possible, but note its different signature: +void pstrcpy(char *dest, int dest_buf_size, const char *src) + +Don't use strcat because it can't check for buffer overflows, but: +char *pstrcat(char *buf, int buf_size, const char *s) + +The same limitation exists with sprintf and vsprintf, so use snprintf and +vsnprintf. + +QEMU provides other useful string functions: +int strstart(const char *str, const char *val, const char **ptr) +int stristart(const char *str, const char *val, const char **ptr) +int qemu_strnlen(const char *s, int max_len) + +There are also replacement character processing macros for isxyz and toxyz, +so instead of e.g. isalnum you should use qemu_isalnum. + +Because of the memory management rules, you must use g_strdup/g_strndup +instead of plain strdup/strndup. + +5. Printf-style functions + +Whenever you add a new printf-style function, i.e., one with a format +string argument and following "..." in its prototype, be sure to use +gcc's printf attribute directive in the prototype. + +This makes it so gcc's -Wformat and -Wformat-security options can do +their jobs and cross-check format strings with the number and types +of arguments. + +6. C standard, implementation defined and undefined behaviors + +C code in QEMU should be written to the C99 language specification. A copy +of the final version of the C99 standard with corrigenda TC1, TC2, and TC3 +included, formatted as a draft, can be downloaded from: + http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/WG14/www/docs/n1256.pdf + +The C language specification defines regions of undefined behavior and +implementation defined behavior (to give compiler authors enough leeway to +produce better code). In general, code in QEMU should follow the language +specification and avoid both undefined and implementation defined +constructs. ("It works fine on the gcc I tested it with" is not a valid +argument...) However there are a few areas where we allow ourselves to +assume certain behaviors because in practice all the platforms we care about +behave in the same way and writing strictly conformant code would be +painful. These are: + * you may assume that integers are 2s complement representation + * you may assume that right shift of a signed integer duplicates + the sign bit (ie it is an arithmetic shift, not a logical shift) |