| 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) |
| |
| In addition, QEMU assumes that the compiler does not use the latitude |
| given in C99 and C11 to treat aspects of signed '<<' as undefined, as |
| documented in the GNU Compiler Collection manual starting at version 4.0. |
| |
| 7. Error handling and reporting |
| |
| 7.1 Reporting errors to the human user |
| |
| Do not use printf(), fprintf() or monitor_printf(). Instead, use |
| error_report() or error_vreport() from error-report.h. This ensures the |
| error is reported in the right place (current monitor or stderr), and in |
| a uniform format. |
| |
| Use error_printf() & friends to print additional information. |
| |
| error_report() prints the current location. In certain common cases |
| like command line parsing, the current location is tracked |
| automatically. To manipulate it manually, use the loc_*() from |
| error-report.h. |
| |
| 7.2 Propagating errors |
| |
| An error can't always be reported to the user right where it's detected, |
| but often needs to be propagated up the call chain to a place that can |
| handle it. This can be done in various ways. |
| |
| The most flexible one is Error objects. See error.h for usage |
| information. |
| |
| Use the simplest suitable method to communicate success / failure to |
| callers. Stick to common methods: non-negative on success / -1 on |
| error, non-negative / -errno, non-null / null, or Error objects. |
| |
| Example: when a function returns a non-null pointer on success, and it |
| can fail only in one way (as far as the caller is concerned), returning |
| null on failure is just fine, and certainly simpler and a lot easier on |
| the eyes than propagating an Error object through an Error ** parameter. |
| |
| Example: when a function's callers need to report details on failure |
| only the function really knows, use Error **, and set suitable errors. |
| |
| Do not report an error to the user when you're also returning an error |
| for somebody else to handle. Leave the reporting to the place that |
| consumes the error returned. |
| |
| 7.3 Handling errors |
| |
| Calling exit() is fine when handling configuration errors during |
| startup. It's problematic during normal operation. In particular, |
| monitor commands should never exit(). |
| |
| Do not call exit() or abort() to handle an error that can be triggered |
| by the guest (e.g., some unimplemented corner case in guest code |
| translation or device emulation). Guests should not be able to |
| terminate QEMU. |
| |
| Note that &error_fatal is just another way to exit(1), and &error_abort |
| is just another way to abort(). |