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