Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" |
| 2 | "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> |
| 3 | <html> |
| 4 | <head> |
| 5 | <link rel="stylesheet" href="llvm.css" type="text/css"> |
| 6 | <title>A Few Coding Standards</title> |
| 7 | </head> |
| 8 | <body> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 9 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 10 | <div class="doc_title"> |
| 11 | A Few Coding Standards |
| 12 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 13 | |
| 14 | <ol> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 15 | <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li> |
Chris Lattner | 7ae36bb | 2001-07-23 20:40:41 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 16 | <li><a href="#mechanicalissues">Mechanical Source Issues</a> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 17 | <ol> |
| 18 | <li><a href="#sourceformating">Source Code Formatting</a> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 19 | <ol> |
| 20 | <li><a href="#scf_commenting">Commenting</a></li> |
| 21 | <li><a href="#scf_commentformat">Comment Formatting</a></li> |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 22 | <li><a href="#scf_includes"><tt>#include</tt> Style</a></li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 23 | <li><a href="#scf_codewidth">Source Code Width</a></li> |
| 24 | <li><a href="#scf_spacestabs">Use Spaces Instead of Tabs</a></li> |
| 25 | <li><a href="#scf_indentation">Indent Code Consistently</a></li> |
| 26 | </ol></li> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 27 | <li><a href="#compilerissues">Compiler Issues</a> |
| 28 | <ol> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 29 | <li><a href="#ci_warningerrors">Treat Compiler Warnings Like |
| 30 | Errors</a></li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 31 | <li><a href="#ci_portable_code">Write Portable Code</a></li> |
Reid Spencer | b40df56 | 2004-09-23 16:03:48 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 32 | <li><a href="#ci_class_struct">Use of class/struct Keywords</a></li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 33 | </ol></li> |
| 34 | </ol></li> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 35 | <li><a href="#styleissues">Style Issues</a> |
| 36 | <ol> |
| 37 | <li><a href="#macro">The High Level Issues</a> |
| 38 | <ol> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 39 | <li><a href="#hl_module">A Public Header File <b>is</b> a |
| 40 | Module</a></li> |
| 41 | <li><a href="#hl_dontinclude">#include as Little as Possible</a></li> |
| 42 | <li><a href="#hl_privateheaders">Keep "internal" Headers |
| 43 | Private</a></li> |
| 44 | </ol></li> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 45 | <li><a href="#micro">The Low Level Issues</a> |
| 46 | <ol> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 47 | <li><a href="#hl_assert">Assert Liberally</a></li> |
Chris Lattner | b0bff9e | 2006-01-01 21:59:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 48 | <li><a href="#hl_ns_std">Do not use 'using namespace std'</a></li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 49 | <li><a href="#hl_preincrement">Prefer Preincrement</a></li> |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 50 | <li><a href="#hl_avoidendl">Avoid <tt>std::endl</tt></a></li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 51 | </ol></li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 52 | </ol></li> |
| 53 | <li><a href="#seealso">See Also</a></li> |
| 54 | </ol> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 55 | |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 56 | <div class="doc_author"> |
| 57 | <p>Written by <a href="mailto:sabre@nondot.org">Chris Lattner</a></p> |
| 58 | </div> |
| 59 | |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 60 | |
| 61 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 62 | <div class="doc_section"> |
| 63 | <a name="introduction">Introduction</a> |
| 64 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 65 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 66 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 67 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 68 | |
| 69 | <p>This document attempts to describe a few coding standards that are being used |
| 70 | in the LLVM source tree. Although no coding standards should be regarded as |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 71 | absolute requirements to be followed in all instances, coding standards can be |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 72 | useful.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 73 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 74 | <p>This document intentionally does not prescribe fixed standards for religious |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 75 | issues such as brace placement and space usage. For issues like this, follow |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 76 | the golden rule:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 77 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 78 | <blockquote> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 79 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 80 | <p><b><a name="goldenrule">If you are adding a significant body of source to a |
| 81 | project, feel free to use whatever style you are most comfortable with. If you |
| 82 | are extending, enhancing, or bug fixing already implemented code, use the style |
| 83 | that is already being used so that the source is uniform and easy to |
| 84 | follow.</a></b></p> |
| 85 | |
| 86 | </blockquote> |
| 87 | |
| 88 | <p>The ultimate goal of these guidelines is the increase readability and |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 89 | maintainability of our common source base. If you have suggestions for topics to |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 90 | be included, please mail them to <a |
| 91 | href="mailto:sabre@nondot.org">Chris</a>.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 92 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 93 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 94 | |
| 95 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 96 | <div class="doc_section"> |
| 97 | <a name="mechanicalissues">Mechanical Source Issues</a> |
| 98 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 99 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 100 | |
| 101 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 102 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 103 | <a name="sourceformating">Source Code Formatting</a> |
| 104 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 105 | |
| 106 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 107 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 108 | <a name="scf_commenting">Commenting</a> |
| 109 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 110 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 111 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 112 | |
| 113 | <p>Comments are one critical part of readability and maintainability. Everyone |
Misha Brukman | 3b53a26 | 2004-12-04 00:32:12 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 114 | knows they should comment, so should you. Although we all should probably |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 115 | comment our code more than we do, there are a few very critical places that |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 116 | documentation is very useful:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 117 | |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 118 | <b>File Headers</b> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 119 | |
| 120 | <p>Every source file should have a header on it that |
| 121 | describes the basic purpose of the file. If a file does not have a header, it |
| 122 | should not be checked into CVS. Most source trees will probably have a standard |
| 123 | file header format. The standard format for the LLVM source tree looks like |
| 124 | this:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 125 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 126 | <div class="doc_code"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 127 | <pre> |
Chris Lattner | c49fcd1 | 2003-10-13 14:58:11 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 128 | //===-- llvm/Instruction.h - Instruction class definition -------*- C++ -*-===// |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 129 | // |
| 130 | // The LLVM Compiler Infrastructure |
| 131 | // |
| 132 | // This file was developed by the LLVM research group and is distributed under |
| 133 | // the University of Illinois Open Source License. See LICENSE.TXT for details. |
| 134 | // |
| 135 | //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===// |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 136 | // |
| 137 | // This file contains the declaration of the Instruction class, which is the |
| 138 | // base class for all of the VM instructions. |
| 139 | // |
| 140 | //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===// |
| 141 | </pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 142 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 143 | |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 144 | <p>A few things to note about this particular format: The "<tt>-*- C++ |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 145 | -*-</tt>" string on the first line is there to tell Emacs that the source file |
Misha Brukman | 69c5889 | 2004-07-28 22:37:57 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 146 | is a C++ file, not a C file (Emacs assumes .h files are C files by default). |
| 147 | Note that this tag is not necessary in .cpp files. The name of the file is also |
| 148 | on the first line, along with a very short description of the purpose of the |
| 149 | file. This is important when printing out code and flipping though lots of |
| 150 | pages.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 151 | |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 152 | <p>The next section in the file is a concise note that defines the license that |
| 153 | the file is released under. This makes it perfectly clear what terms the source |
| 154 | code can be distributed under.</p> |
| 155 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 156 | <p>The main body of the description does not have to be very long in most cases. |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 157 | Here it's only two lines. If an algorithm is being implemented or something |
| 158 | tricky is going on, a reference to the paper where it is published should be |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 159 | included, as well as any notes or "gotchas" in the code to watch out for.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 160 | |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 161 | <b>Class overviews</b> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 162 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 163 | <p>Classes are one fundemental part of a good object oriented design. As such, |
| 164 | a class definition should have a comment block that explains what the class is |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 165 | used for... if it's not obvious. If it's so completely obvious your grandma |
| 166 | could figure it out, it's probably safe to leave it out. Naming classes |
Misha Brukman | 3b53a26 | 2004-12-04 00:32:12 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 167 | something sane goes a long ways towards avoiding writing documentation.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 168 | |
| 169 | |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 170 | <b>Method information</b> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 171 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 172 | <p>Methods defined in a class (as well as any global functions) should also be |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 173 | documented properly. A quick note about what it does any a description of the |
| 174 | borderline behaviour is all that is necessary here (unless something |
| 175 | particularly tricky or insideous is going on). The hope is that people can |
| 176 | figure out how to use your interfaces without reading the code itself... that is |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 177 | the goal metric.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 178 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 179 | <p>Good things to talk about here are what happens when something unexpected |
| 180 | happens: does the method return null? Abort? Format your hard disk?</p> |
| 181 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 182 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 183 | |
| 184 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 185 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 186 | <a name="scf_commentformat">Comment Formatting</a> |
| 187 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 188 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 189 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 190 | |
| 191 | <p>In general, prefer C++ style (<tt>//</tt>) comments. They take less space, |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 192 | require less typing, don't have nesting problems, etc. There are a few cases |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 193 | when it is useful to use C style (<tt>/* */</tt>) comments however:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 194 | |
| 195 | <ol> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 196 | <li>When writing a C code: Obviously if you are writing C code, use C style |
Misha Brukman | 3b53a26 | 2004-12-04 00:32:12 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 197 | comments.</li> |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 198 | <li>When writing a header file that may be <tt>#include</tt>d by a C source |
| 199 | file.</li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 200 | <li>When writing a source file that is used by a tool that only accepts C |
| 201 | style comments.</li> |
| 202 | </ol> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 203 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 204 | <p>To comment out a large block of code, use <tt>#if 0</tt> and <tt>#endif</tt>. |
| 205 | These nest properly and are better behaved in general than C style comments.</p> |
| 206 | |
| 207 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 208 | |
Chris Lattner | 2e5cbc2 | 2003-08-07 21:45:47 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 209 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 210 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 211 | <a name="scf_includes"><tt>#include</tt> Style</a> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 212 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | 2e5cbc2 | 2003-08-07 21:45:47 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 213 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 214 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 215 | |
| 216 | <p>Immediately after the <a href="#scf_commenting">header file comment</a> (and |
Chris Lattner | 2e5cbc2 | 2003-08-07 21:45:47 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 217 | include guards if working on a header file), the <a |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 218 | href="#hl_dontinclude">minimal</a> list of <tt>#include</tt>s required by the |
| 219 | file should be listed. We prefer these <tt>#include</tt>s to be listed in this |
| 220 | order:</p> |
Chris Lattner | 2e5cbc2 | 2003-08-07 21:45:47 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 221 | |
| 222 | <ol> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 223 | <li><a href="#mmheader">Main Module header</a></li> |
| 224 | <li><a href="#hl_privateheaders">Local/Private Headers</a></li> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 225 | <li><tt>llvm/*</tt></li> |
| 226 | <li><tt>llvm/Analysis/*</tt></li> |
| 227 | <li><tt>llvm/Assembly/*</tt></li> |
| 228 | <li><tt>llvm/Bytecode/*</tt></li> |
| 229 | <li><tt>llvm/CodeGen/*</tt></li> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 230 | <li>...</li> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 231 | <li><tt>Support/*</tt></li> |
| 232 | <li><tt>Config/*</tt></li> |
| 233 | <li>System <tt>#includes</tt></li> |
Chris Lattner | 2e5cbc2 | 2003-08-07 21:45:47 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 234 | </ol> |
| 235 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 236 | <p>... and each catagory should be sorted by name.</p> |
Chris Lattner | 2e5cbc2 | 2003-08-07 21:45:47 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 237 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 238 | <p><a name="mmheader">The "Main Module Header"</a> file applies to .cpp file |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 239 | which implement an interface defined by a .h file. This <tt>#include</tt> |
| 240 | should always be included <b>first</b> regardless of where it lives on the file |
| 241 | system. By including a header file first in the .cpp files that implement the |
| 242 | interfaces, we ensure that the header does not have any hidden dependencies |
| 243 | which are not explicitly #included in the header, but should be. It is also a |
| 244 | form of documentation in the .cpp file to indicate where the interfaces it |
| 245 | implements are defined.</p> |
Chris Lattner | 2e5cbc2 | 2003-08-07 21:45:47 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 246 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 247 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 248 | |
| 249 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 250 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 251 | <a name="scf_codewidth">Source Code Width</a> |
| 252 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 253 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 254 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 255 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 256 | <p>Write your code to fit within 80 columns of text. This helps those of us who |
| 257 | like to print out code and look at your code in an xterm without resizing |
| 258 | it.</p> |
| 259 | |
| 260 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 261 | |
| 262 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 263 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 264 | <a name="scf_spacestabs">Use Spaces Instead of Tabs</a> |
| 265 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 266 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 267 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 268 | |
| 269 | <p>In all cases, prefer spaces to tabs in source files. People have different |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 270 | prefered indentation levels, and different styles of indentation that they |
| 271 | like... this is fine. What isn't is that different editors/viewers expand tabs |
| 272 | out to different tab stops. This can cause your code to look completely |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 273 | unreadable, and it is not worth dealing with.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 274 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 275 | <p>As always, follow the <a href="#goldenrule">Golden Rule</a> above: follow the |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 276 | style of existing code if your are modifying and extending it. If you like four |
| 277 | spaces of indentation, <b>DO NOT</b> do that in the middle of a chunk of code |
| 278 | with two spaces of indentation. Also, do not reindent a whole source file: it |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 279 | makes for incredible diffs that are absolutely worthless.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 280 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 281 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 282 | |
| 283 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 284 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 285 | <a name="scf_indentation">Indent Code Consistently</a> |
| 286 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 287 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 288 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 289 | |
| 290 | <p>Okay, your first year of programming you were told that indentation is |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 291 | important. If you didn't believe and internalize this then, now is the time. |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 292 | Just do it.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 293 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 294 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 295 | |
| 296 | |
| 297 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 298 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 299 | <a name="compilerissues">Compiler Issues</a> |
| 300 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 301 | |
| 302 | |
| 303 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 304 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 305 | <a name="ci_warningerrors">Treat Compiler Warnings Like Errors</a> |
| 306 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 307 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 308 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 309 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 310 | <p>If your code has compiler warnings in it, something is wrong: you aren't |
| 311 | casting values correctly, your have "questionable" constructs in your code, or |
| 312 | you are doing something legitimately wrong. Compiler warnings can cover up |
| 313 | legitimate errors in output and make dealing with a translation unit |
| 314 | difficult.</p> |
| 315 | |
| 316 | <p>It is not possible to prevent all warnings from all compilers, nor is it |
Misha Brukman | 1b36d67 | 2003-10-06 19:26:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 317 | desirable. Instead, pick a standard compiler (like <tt>gcc</tt>) that provides |
| 318 | a good thorough set of warnings, and stick to them. At least in the case of |
| 319 | <tt>gcc</tt>, it is possible to work around any spurious errors by changing the |
| 320 | syntax of the code slightly. For example, an warning that annoys me occurs when |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 321 | I write code like this:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 322 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 323 | <div class="doc_code"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 324 | <pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 325 | if (V = getValue()) { |
| 326 | ... |
| 327 | } |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 328 | </pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 329 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 330 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 331 | <p><tt>gcc</tt> will warn me that I probably want to use the <tt>==</tt> |
| 332 | operator, and that I probably mistyped it. In most cases, I haven't, and I |
| 333 | really don't want the spurious errors. To fix this particular problem, I |
| 334 | rewrite the code like this:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 335 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 336 | <div class="doc_code"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 337 | <pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 338 | if ((V = getValue())) { |
| 339 | ... |
| 340 | } |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 341 | </pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 342 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 343 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 344 | <p>...which shuts <tt>gcc</tt> up. Any <tt>gcc</tt> warning that annoys you can |
| 345 | be fixed by massaging the code appropriately.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 346 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 347 | <p>These are the <tt>gcc</tt> warnings that I prefer to enable: <tt>-Wall |
| 348 | -Winline -W -Wwrite-strings -Wno-unused</tt></p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 349 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 350 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 351 | |
| 352 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 353 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 354 | <a name="ci_portable_code">Write Portable Code</a> |
| 355 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 356 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 357 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 358 | |
| 359 | <p>In almost all cases, it is possible and within reason to write completely |
Misha Brukman | 2d10d75 | 2003-07-28 21:57:18 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 360 | portable code. If there are cases where it isn't possible to write portable |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 361 | code, isolate it behind a well defined (and well documented) interface.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 362 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 363 | <p>In practice, this means that you shouldn't assume much about the host |
| 364 | compiler, including its support for "high tech" features like partial |
| 365 | specialization of templates. In fact, Visual C++ 6 could be an important target |
| 366 | for our work in the future, and we don't want to have to rewrite all of our code |
| 367 | to support it.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 368 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 369 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 370 | |
Reid Spencer | b40df56 | 2004-09-23 16:03:48 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 371 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
| 372 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 373 | <a name="ci_class_struct">Use of <tt>class</tt> and <tt>struct</tt> Keywords</a> |
| 374 | </div> |
| 375 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Misha Brukman | edcc78a | 2004-10-26 15:45:13 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 376 | |
| 377 | <p>In C++, the <tt>class</tt> and <tt>struct</tt> keywords can be used almost |
| 378 | interchangeably. The only difference is when they are used to declare a class: |
| 379 | <tt>class</tt> makes all members private by default while <tt>struct</tt> makes |
| 380 | all members public by default.</p> |
| 381 | |
| 382 | <p>Unfortunately, not all compilers follow the rules and some will generate |
| 383 | different symbols based on whether <tt>class</tt> or <tt>struct</tt> was used to |
| 384 | declare the symbol. This can lead to problems at link time.</p> |
| 385 | |
| 386 | <p>So, the rule for LLVM is to always use the <tt>class</tt> keyword, unless |
| 387 | <b>all</b> members are public, in which case <tt>struct</tt> is allowed.</p> |
| 388 | |
Reid Spencer | b40df56 | 2004-09-23 16:03:48 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 389 | </div> |
| 390 | |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 391 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 392 | <div class="doc_section"> |
| 393 | <a name="styleissues">Style Issues</a> |
| 394 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 395 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 396 | |
| 397 | |
| 398 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 399 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 400 | <a name="macro">The High Level Issues</a> |
| 401 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 402 | |
| 403 | |
| 404 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 405 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 406 | <a name="hl_module">A Public Header File <b>is</b> a Module</a> |
| 407 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 408 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 409 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 410 | |
| 411 | <p>C++ doesn't do too well in the modularity department. There is no real |
Misha Brukman | 2d10d75 | 2003-07-28 21:57:18 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 412 | encapsulation or data hiding (unless you use expensive protocol classes), but it |
| 413 | is what we have to work with. When you write a public header file (in the LLVM |
| 414 | source tree, they live in the top level "include" directory), you are defining a |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 415 | module of functionality.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 416 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 417 | <p>Ideally, modules should be completely independent of each other, and their |
Misha Brukman | 2d10d75 | 2003-07-28 21:57:18 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 418 | header files should only include the absolute minimum number of headers |
| 419 | possible. A module is not just a class, a function, or a namespace: <a |
| 420 | href="http://www.cuj.com/articles/2000/0002/0002c/0002c.htm">it's a collection |
| 421 | of these</a> that defines an interface. This interface may be several |
| 422 | functions, classes or data structures, but the important issue is how they work |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 423 | together.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 424 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 425 | <p>In general, a module should be implemented with one or more <tt>.cpp</tt> |
| 426 | files. Each of these <tt>.cpp</tt> files should include the header that defines |
| 427 | their interface first. This ensure that all of the dependences of the module |
| 428 | header have been properly added to the module header itself, and are not |
| 429 | implicit. System headers should be included after user headers for a |
| 430 | translation unit.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 431 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 432 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 433 | |
| 434 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 435 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 436 | <a name="hl_dontinclude"><tt>#include</tt> as Little as Possible</a> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 437 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 438 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 439 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 440 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 441 | <p><tt>#include</tt> hurts compile time performance. Don't do it unless you |
| 442 | have to, especially in header files.</p> |
| 443 | |
| 444 | <p>But wait, sometimes you need to have the definition of a class to use it, or |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 445 | to inherit from it. In these cases go ahead and <tt>#include</tt> that header |
| 446 | file. Be aware however that there are many cases where you don't need to have |
| 447 | the full definition of a class. If you are using a pointer or reference to a |
| 448 | class, you don't need the header file. If you are simply returning a class |
| 449 | instance from a prototyped function or method, you don't need it. In fact, for |
| 450 | most cases, you simply don't need the definition of a class... and not |
| 451 | <tt>#include</tt>'ing speeds up compilation.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 452 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 453 | <p>It is easy to try to go too overboard on this recommendation, however. You |
Misha Brukman | 2d10d75 | 2003-07-28 21:57:18 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 454 | <b>must</b> include all of the header files that you are using, either directly |
| 455 | or indirectly (through another header file). To make sure that you don't |
| 456 | accidently forget to include a header file in your module header, make sure to |
| 457 | include your module header <b>first</b> in the implementation file (as mentioned |
| 458 | above). This way there won't be any hidden dependencies that you'll find out |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 459 | about later...</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 460 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 461 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 462 | |
| 463 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 464 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 465 | <a name="hl_privateheaders">Keep "internal" Headers Private</a> |
| 466 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 467 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 468 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 469 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 470 | <p>Many modules have a complex implementation that causes them to use more than |
| 471 | one implementation (<tt>.cpp</tt>) file. It is often tempting to put the |
| 472 | internal communication interface (helper classes, extra functions, etc) in the |
Misha Brukman | 3b53a26 | 2004-12-04 00:32:12 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 473 | public module header file. Don't do this.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 474 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 475 | <p>If you really need to do something like this, put a private header file in |
| 476 | the same directory as the source files, and include it locally. This ensures |
| 477 | that your private interface remains private and undisturbed by outsiders.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 478 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 479 | <p>Note however, that it's okay to put extra implementation methods a public |
| 480 | class itself... just make them private (or protected), and all is well.</p> |
| 481 | |
| 482 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 483 | |
| 484 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 485 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 486 | <a name="micro">The Low Level Issues</a> |
| 487 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 488 | |
| 489 | |
| 490 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 491 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 492 | <a name="hl_assert">Assert Liberally</a> |
| 493 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 494 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 495 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 496 | |
| 497 | <p>Use the "<tt>assert</tt>" function to its fullest. Check all of your |
Misha Brukman | 2d10d75 | 2003-07-28 21:57:18 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 498 | preconditions and assumptions, you never know when a bug (not neccesarily even |
| 499 | yours) might be caught early by an assertion, which reduces debugging time |
| 500 | dramatically. The "<tt><cassert></tt>" header file is probably already |
| 501 | included by the header files you are using, so it doesn't cost anything to use |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 502 | it.</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 503 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 504 | <p>To further assist with debugging, make sure to put some kind of error message |
| 505 | in the assertion statement (which is printed if the assertion is tripped). This |
Misha Brukman | 2d10d75 | 2003-07-28 21:57:18 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 506 | helps the poor debugging make sense of why an assertion is being made and |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 507 | enforced, and hopefully what to do about it. Here is one complete example:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 508 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 509 | <div class="doc_code"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 510 | <pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 511 | inline Value *getOperand(unsigned i) { |
| 512 | assert(i < Operands.size() && "getOperand() out of range!"); |
| 513 | return Operands[i]; |
| 514 | } |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 515 | </pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 516 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 517 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 518 | <p>Here are some examples:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 519 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 520 | <div class="doc_code"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 521 | <pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 522 | assert(Ty->isPointerType() && "Can't allocate a non pointer type!"); |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 523 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 524 | assert((Opcode == Shl || Opcode == Shr) && "ShiftInst Opcode invalid!"); |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 525 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 526 | assert(idx < getNumSuccessors() && "Successor # out of range!"); |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 527 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 528 | assert(V1.getType() == V2.getType() && "Constant types must be identical!"); |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 529 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 530 | assert(isa<PHINode>(Succ->front()) && "Only works on PHId BBs!"); |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 531 | </pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 532 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 533 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 534 | <p>You get the idea...</p> |
| 535 | |
| 536 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 537 | |
Chris Lattner | b0bff9e | 2006-01-01 21:59:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 538 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
| 539 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 540 | <a name="hl_ns_std">Do not use 'using namespace std'</a> |
| 541 | </div> |
| 542 | |
| 543 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 544 | <p>In LLVM, we prefer to explicitly prefix all identifiers from the standard |
| 545 | namespace with an "std::" prefix, rather than rely on "using namespace std;". |
| 546 | </p> |
| 547 | |
| 548 | <p> In header files, adding a 'using namespace XXX' directive pollutes the |
| 549 | namespace of any source file that includes the header. This is clearly a bad |
| 550 | thing.</p> |
| 551 | |
| 552 | <p>In implementation files (e.g. .cpp files) the rule is more of a stylistic |
| 553 | rule, but is still important. Basically, using explicit namespace prefixes |
| 554 | makes |
| 555 | the code <b>more clear</b> - because it is immediately obvious what facilities |
| 556 | are being used and where they are coming from - and <b>more portable</b> - |
| 557 | because namespace clashes cannot occur between LLVM code and other namespaces. |
| 558 | The portability rule is important because different standard library |
| 559 | implementations expose different symbols (potentially ones they shouldn't) and |
| 560 | future revisions to the C++ standard will add more symbols to the std |
| 561 | namespace. As such, we never 'using namespace std;' in LLVM.</p> |
| 562 | |
| 563 | <p>The exception to the general rule (i.e. it's not an exception for the std |
| 564 | namespace) is for implementation files. For example, all of the code in the |
| 565 | LLVM project implements code that lives in the 'llvm' namespace. As such, it |
| 566 | is ok, and actually more clear, for the .cpp files to have a 'using namespace |
| 567 | llvm' directive at their top, after the #includes. The general form of this |
| 568 | rule is that any .cpp file that implements code in any namespace may use that |
| 569 | namespace (and its parents), but should not use any others.</p> |
| 570 | |
| 571 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 572 | |
| 573 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 574 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 575 | <a name="hl_preincrement">Prefer Preincrement</a> |
| 576 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 577 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 578 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 579 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 580 | <p>Hard fast rule: Preincrement (<tt>++X</tt>) may be no slower than |
| 581 | postincrement (<tt>X++</tt>) and could very well be a lot faster than it. Use |
| 582 | preincrementation whenever possible.</p> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 583 | |
| 584 | <p>The semantics of postincrement include making a copy of the value being |
Misha Brukman | 2d10d75 | 2003-07-28 21:57:18 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 585 | incremented, returning it, and then preincrementing the "work value". For |
| 586 | primitive types, this isn't a big deal... but for iterators, it can be a huge |
| 587 | issue (for example, some iterators contains stack and set objects in them... |
| 588 | copying an iterator could invoke the copy ctor's of these as well). In general, |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 589 | get in the habit of always using preincrement, and you won't have a problem.</p> |
| 590 | |
| 591 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 592 | |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 593 | <!-- _______________________________________________________________________ --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 594 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
Misha Brukman | 91d64af | 2004-10-26 16:18:43 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 595 | <a name="hl_avoidendl">Avoid <tt>std::endl</tt></a> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 596 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | 13c4659 | 2002-01-20 19:01:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 597 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 598 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 599 | |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 600 | <p>The <tt>std::endl</tt> modifier, when used with iostreams outputs a newline |
| 601 | to the output stream specified. In addition to doing this, however, it also |
| 602 | flushes the output stream. In other words, these are equivalent:</p> |
Chris Lattner | 13c4659 | 2002-01-20 19:01:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 603 | |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 604 | <div class="doc_code"> |
Chris Lattner | 13c4659 | 2002-01-20 19:01:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 605 | <pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 606 | std::cout << std::endl; |
| 607 | std::cout << '\n' << std::flush; |
Chris Lattner | 13c4659 | 2002-01-20 19:01:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 608 | </pre> |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 609 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | 13c4659 | 2002-01-20 19:01:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 610 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 611 | <p>Most of the time, you probably have no reason to flush the output stream, so |
Misha Brukman | a8c760a | 2004-07-28 22:31:54 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 612 | it's better to use a literal <tt>'\n'</tt>.</p> |
Chris Lattner | 13c4659 | 2002-01-20 19:01:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 613 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 614 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | 13c4659 | 2002-01-20 19:01:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 615 | |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 616 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 617 | <div class="doc_section"> |
| 618 | <a name="seealso">See Also</a> |
| 619 | </div> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 620 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 621 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 622 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 623 | |
| 624 | <p>A lot of these comments and recommendations have been culled for other |
| 625 | sources. Two particularly important books for our work are:</p> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 626 | |
| 627 | <ol> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 628 | |
Tanya Lattner | 09cf73c | 2004-06-22 04:24:55 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 629 | <li><a href="http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0201310155,00.html">Effective |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 630 | C++</a> by Scott Meyers. There is an online version of the book (only some |
| 631 | chapters though) <a |
Chris Lattner | 999cf09 | 2004-05-23 21:05:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 632 | href="http://www.awlonline.com/cseng/meyerscddemo/">available as well</a>. Also |
| 633 | interesting and useful are "More Effective C++" and "Effective STL" by the same |
| 634 | author.</li> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 635 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 636 | <li><a href="http://cseng.aw.com/book/0,3828,0201633620,00.html">Large-Scale C++ |
| 637 | Software Design</a> by John Lakos</li> |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 638 | |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 639 | </ol> |
| 640 | |
| 641 | <p>If you get some free time, and you haven't read them: do so, you might learn |
Misha Brukman | 3b53a26 | 2004-12-04 00:32:12 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 642 | something.</p> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 643 | |
| 644 | </div> |
| 645 | |
Chris Lattner | d80c43c | 2001-07-09 03:27:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 646 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 647 | |
| 648 | <hr> |
Misha Brukman | 6c16c4b | 2004-05-12 18:37:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 649 | <address> |
| 650 | <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer"><img |
| 651 | src="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/images/vcss" alt="Valid CSS!"></a> |
| 652 | <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer"><img |
| 653 | src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-html401" alt="Valid HTML 4.01!"></a> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 654 | |
Misha Brukman | 6c16c4b | 2004-05-12 18:37:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 655 | <a href="mailto:sabre@nondot.org">Chris Lattner</a><br> |
Reid Spencer | 05fe4b0 | 2006-03-14 05:39:39 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 656 | <a href="http://llvm.org">LLVM Compiler Infrastructure</a><br> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 657 | Last modified: $Date$ |
Misha Brukman | 6c16c4b | 2004-05-12 18:37:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 658 | </address> |
Misha Brukman | 75f258e | 2003-10-24 17:57:33 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 659 | |
| 660 | </body> |
| 661 | </html> |