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- .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
- ==========
- Checkpatch
- ==========
- Checkpatch (scripts/checkpatch.pl) is a perl script which checks for trivial
- style violations in patches and optionally corrects them. Checkpatch can
- also be run on file contexts and without the kernel tree.
- Checkpatch is not always right. Your judgement takes precedence over checkpatch
- messages. If your code looks better with the violations, then its probably
- best left alone.
- Options
- =======
- This section will describe the options checkpatch can be run with.
- Usage::
- ./scripts/checkpatch.pl [OPTION]... [FILE]...
- Available options:
- - -q, --quiet
- Enable quiet mode.
- - -v, --verbose
- Enable verbose mode. Additional verbose test descriptions are output
- so as to provide information on why that particular message is shown.
- - --no-tree
- Run checkpatch without the kernel tree.
- - --no-signoff
- Disable the 'Signed-off-by' line check. The sign-off is a simple line at
- the end of the explanation for the patch, which certifies that you wrote it
- or otherwise have the right to pass it on as an open-source patch.
- Example::
- Signed-off-by: Random J Developer <[email protected]>
- Setting this flag effectively stops a message for a missing signed-off-by
- line in a patch context.
- - --patch
- Treat FILE as a patch. This is the default option and need not be
- explicitly specified.
- - --emacs
- Set output to emacs compile window format. This allows emacs users to jump
- from the error in the compile window directly to the offending line in the
- patch.
- - --terse
- Output only one line per report.
- - --showfile
- Show the diffed file position instead of the input file position.
- - -g, --git
- Treat FILE as a single commit or a git revision range.
- Single commit with:
- - <rev>
- - <rev>^
- - <rev>~n
- Multiple commits with:
- - <rev1>..<rev2>
- - <rev1>...<rev2>
- - <rev>-<count>
- - -f, --file
- Treat FILE as a regular source file. This option must be used when running
- checkpatch on source files in the kernel.
- - --subjective, --strict
- Enable stricter tests in checkpatch. By default the tests emitted as CHECK
- do not activate by default. Use this flag to activate the CHECK tests.
- - --list-types
- Every message emitted by checkpatch has an associated TYPE. Add this flag
- to display all the types in checkpatch.
- Note that when this flag is active, checkpatch does not read the input FILE,
- and no message is emitted. Only a list of types in checkpatch is output.
- - --types TYPE(,TYPE2...)
- Only display messages with the given types.
- Example::
- ./scripts/checkpatch.pl mypatch.patch --types EMAIL_SUBJECT,BRACES
- - --ignore TYPE(,TYPE2...)
- Checkpatch will not emit messages for the specified types.
- Example::
- ./scripts/checkpatch.pl mypatch.patch --ignore EMAIL_SUBJECT,BRACES
- - --show-types
- By default checkpatch doesn't display the type associated with the messages.
- Set this flag to show the message type in the output.
- - --max-line-length=n
- Set the max line length (default 100). If a line exceeds the specified
- length, a LONG_LINE message is emitted.
- The message level is different for patch and file contexts. For patches,
- a WARNING is emitted. While a milder CHECK is emitted for files. So for
- file contexts, the --strict flag must also be enabled.
- - --min-conf-desc-length=n
- Set the Kconfig entry minimum description length, if shorter, warn.
- - --tab-size=n
- Set the number of spaces for tab (default 8).
- - --root=PATH
- PATH to the kernel tree root.
- This option must be specified when invoking checkpatch from outside
- the kernel root.
- - --no-summary
- Suppress the per file summary.
- - --mailback
- Only produce a report in case of Warnings or Errors. Milder Checks are
- excluded from this.
- - --summary-file
- Include the filename in summary.
- - --debug KEY=[0|1]
- Turn on/off debugging of KEY, where KEY is one of 'values', 'possible',
- 'type', and 'attr' (default is all off).
- - --fix
- This is an EXPERIMENTAL feature. If correctable errors exists, a file
- <inputfile>.EXPERIMENTAL-checkpatch-fixes is created which has the
- automatically fixable errors corrected.
- - --fix-inplace
- EXPERIMENTAL - Similar to --fix but input file is overwritten with fixes.
- DO NOT USE this flag unless you are absolutely sure and you have a backup
- in place.
- - --ignore-perl-version
- Override checking of perl version. Runtime errors maybe encountered after
- enabling this flag if the perl version does not meet the minimum specified.
- - --codespell
- Use the codespell dictionary for checking spelling errors.
- - --codespellfile
- Use the specified codespell file.
- Default is '/usr/share/codespell/dictionary.txt'.
- - --typedefsfile
- Read additional types from this file.
- - --color[=WHEN]
- Use colors 'always', 'never', or only when output is a terminal ('auto').
- Default is 'auto'.
- - --kconfig-prefix=WORD
- Use WORD as a prefix for Kconfig symbols (default is `CONFIG_`).
- - -h, --help, --version
- Display the help text.
- Message Levels
- ==============
- Messages in checkpatch are divided into three levels. The levels of messages
- in checkpatch denote the severity of the error. They are:
- - ERROR
- This is the most strict level. Messages of type ERROR must be taken
- seriously as they denote things that are very likely to be wrong.
- - WARNING
- This is the next stricter level. Messages of type WARNING requires a
- more careful review. But it is milder than an ERROR.
- - CHECK
- This is the mildest level. These are things which may require some thought.
- Type Descriptions
- =================
- This section contains a description of all the message types in checkpatch.
- .. Types in this section are also parsed by checkpatch.
- .. The types are grouped into subsections based on use.
- Allocation style
- ----------------
- **ALLOC_ARRAY_ARGS**
- The first argument for kcalloc or kmalloc_array should be the
- number of elements. sizeof() as the first argument is generally
- wrong.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/core-api/memory-allocation.html
- **ALLOC_SIZEOF_STRUCT**
- The allocation style is bad. In general for family of
- allocation functions using sizeof() to get memory size,
- constructs like::
- p = alloc(sizeof(struct foo), ...)
- should be::
- p = alloc(sizeof(*p), ...)
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#allocating-memory
- **ALLOC_WITH_MULTIPLY**
- Prefer kmalloc_array/kcalloc over kmalloc/kzalloc with a
- sizeof multiply.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/core-api/memory-allocation.html
- API usage
- ---------
- **ARCH_DEFINES**
- Architecture specific defines should be avoided wherever
- possible.
- **ARCH_INCLUDE_LINUX**
- Whenever asm/file.h is included and linux/file.h exists, a
- conversion can be made when linux/file.h includes asm/file.h.
- However this is not always the case (See signal.h).
- This message type is emitted only for includes from arch/.
- **AVOID_BUG**
- BUG() or BUG_ON() should be avoided totally.
- Use WARN() and WARN_ON() instead, and handle the "impossible"
- error condition as gracefully as possible.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/deprecated.html#bug-and-bug-on
- **CONSIDER_KSTRTO**
- The simple_strtol(), simple_strtoll(), simple_strtoul(), and
- simple_strtoull() functions explicitly ignore overflows, which
- may lead to unexpected results in callers. The respective kstrtol(),
- kstrtoll(), kstrtoul(), and kstrtoull() functions tend to be the
- correct replacements.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/deprecated.html#simple-strtol-simple-strtoll-simple-strtoul-simple-strtoull
- **CONSTANT_CONVERSION**
- Use of __constant_<foo> form is discouraged for the following functions::
- __constant_cpu_to_be[x]
- __constant_cpu_to_le[x]
- __constant_be[x]_to_cpu
- __constant_le[x]_to_cpu
- __constant_htons
- __constant_ntohs
- Using any of these outside of include/uapi/ is not preferred as using the
- function without __constant_ is identical when the argument is a
- constant.
- In big endian systems, the macros like __constant_cpu_to_be32(x) and
- cpu_to_be32(x) expand to the same expression::
- #define __constant_cpu_to_be32(x) ((__force __be32)(__u32)(x))
- #define __cpu_to_be32(x) ((__force __be32)(__u32)(x))
- In little endian systems, the macros __constant_cpu_to_be32(x) and
- cpu_to_be32(x) expand to __constant_swab32 and __swab32. __swab32
- has a __builtin_constant_p check::
- #define __swab32(x) \
- (__builtin_constant_p((__u32)(x)) ? \
- ___constant_swab32(x) : \
- __fswab32(x))
- So ultimately they have a special case for constants.
- Similar is the case with all of the macros in the list. Thus
- using the __constant_... forms are unnecessarily verbose and
- not preferred outside of include/uapi.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1400106425.12666.6.camel@joe-AO725/
- **DEPRECATED_API**
- Usage of a deprecated RCU API is detected. It is recommended to replace
- old flavourful RCU APIs by their new vanilla-RCU counterparts.
- The full list of available RCU APIs can be viewed from the kernel docs.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/RCU/whatisRCU.html#full-list-of-rcu-apis
- **DEPRECATED_VARIABLE**
- EXTRA_{A,C,CPP,LD}FLAGS are deprecated and should be replaced by the new
- flags added via commit f77bf01425b1 ("kbuild: introduce ccflags-y,
- asflags-y and ldflags-y").
- The following conversion scheme maybe used::
- EXTRA_AFLAGS -> asflags-y
- EXTRA_CFLAGS -> ccflags-y
- EXTRA_CPPFLAGS -> cppflags-y
- EXTRA_LDFLAGS -> ldflags-y
- See:
- 1. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
- 2. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
- 3. https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/kbuild/makefiles.html#compilation-flags
- **DEVICE_ATTR_FUNCTIONS**
- The function names used in DEVICE_ATTR is unusual.
- Typically, the store and show functions are used with <attr>_store and
- <attr>_show, where <attr> is a named attribute variable of the device.
- Consider the following examples::
- static DEVICE_ATTR(type, 0444, type_show, NULL);
- static DEVICE_ATTR(power, 0644, power_show, power_store);
- The function names should preferably follow the above pattern.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
- **DEVICE_ATTR_RO**
- The DEVICE_ATTR_RO(name) helper macro can be used instead of
- DEVICE_ATTR(name, 0444, name_show, NULL);
- Note that the macro automatically appends _show to the named
- attribute variable of the device for the show method.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
- **DEVICE_ATTR_RW**
- The DEVICE_ATTR_RW(name) helper macro can be used instead of
- DEVICE_ATTR(name, 0644, name_show, name_store);
- Note that the macro automatically appends _show and _store to the
- named attribute variable of the device for the show and store methods.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
- **DEVICE_ATTR_WO**
- The DEVICE_AATR_WO(name) helper macro can be used instead of
- DEVICE_ATTR(name, 0200, NULL, name_store);
- Note that the macro automatically appends _store to the
- named attribute variable of the device for the store method.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
- **DUPLICATED_SYSCTL_CONST**
- Commit d91bff3011cf ("proc/sysctl: add shared variables for range
- check") added some shared const variables to be used instead of a local
- copy in each source file.
- Consider replacing the sysctl range checking value with the shared
- one in include/linux/sysctl.h. The following conversion scheme may
- be used::
- &zero -> SYSCTL_ZERO
- &one -> SYSCTL_ONE
- &int_max -> SYSCTL_INT_MAX
- See:
- 1. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
- 2. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
- **ENOSYS**
- ENOSYS means that a nonexistent system call was called.
- Earlier, it was wrongly used for things like invalid operations on
- otherwise valid syscalls. This should be avoided in new code.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/5eb299021dec23c1a48fa7d9f2c8b794e967766d.1408730669.git.luto@amacapital.net/
- **ENOTSUPP**
- ENOTSUPP is not a standard error code and should be avoided in new patches.
- EOPNOTSUPP should be used instead.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/
- **EXPORT_SYMBOL**
- EXPORT_SYMBOL should immediately follow the symbol to be exported.
- **IN_ATOMIC**
- in_atomic() is not for driver use so any such use is reported as an ERROR.
- Also in_atomic() is often used to determine if sleeping is permitted,
- but it is not reliable in this use model. Therefore its use is
- strongly discouraged.
- However, in_atomic() is ok for core kernel use.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
- **LOCKDEP**
- The lockdep_no_validate class was added as a temporary measure to
- prevent warnings on conversion of device->sem to device->mutex.
- It should not be used for any other purpose.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1268959062.9440.467.camel@laptop/
- **MALFORMED_INCLUDE**
- The #include statement has a malformed path. This has happened
- because the author has included a double slash "//" in the pathname
- accidentally.
- **USE_LOCKDEP**
- lockdep_assert_held() annotations should be preferred over
- assertions based on spin_is_locked()
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/locking/lockdep-design.html#annotations
- **UAPI_INCLUDE**
- No #include statements in include/uapi should use a uapi/ path.
- **USLEEP_RANGE**
- usleep_range() should be preferred over udelay(). The proper way of
- using usleep_range() is mentioned in the kernel docs.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/timers/timers-howto.html#delays-information-on-the-various-kernel-delay-sleep-mechanisms
- Comments
- --------
- **BLOCK_COMMENT_STYLE**
- The comment style is incorrect. The preferred style for multi-
- line comments is::
- /*
- * This is the preferred style
- * for multi line comments.
- */
- The networking comment style is a bit different, with the first line
- not empty like the former::
- /* This is the preferred comment style
- * for files in net/ and drivers/net/
- */
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#commenting
- **C99_COMMENTS**
- C99 style single line comments (//) should not be used.
- Prefer the block comment style instead.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#commenting
- **DATA_RACE**
- Applications of data_race() should have a comment so as to document the
- reasoning behind why it was deemed safe.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
- **FSF_MAILING_ADDRESS**
- Kernel maintainers reject new instances of the GPL boilerplate paragraph
- directing people to write to the FSF for a copy of the GPL, since the
- FSF has moved in the past and may do so again.
- So do not write paragraphs about writing to the Free Software Foundation's
- mailing address.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20131006222342.GT19510@leaf/
- Commit message
- --------------
- **BAD_SIGN_OFF**
- The signed-off-by line does not fall in line with the standards
- specified by the community.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#developer-s-certificate-of-origin-1-1
- **BAD_STABLE_ADDRESS_STYLE**
- The email format for stable is incorrect.
- Some valid options for stable address are::
- 1. [email protected]
- 2. [email protected]
- For adding version info, the following comment style should be used::
- [email protected] # version info
- **COMMIT_COMMENT_SYMBOL**
- Commit log lines starting with a '#' are ignored by git as
- comments. To solve this problem addition of a single space
- infront of the log line is enough.
- **COMMIT_MESSAGE**
- The patch is missing a commit description. A brief
- description of the changes made by the patch should be added.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
- **EMAIL_SUBJECT**
- Naming the tool that found the issue is not very useful in the
- subject line. A good subject line summarizes the change that
- the patch brings.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
- **FROM_SIGN_OFF_MISMATCH**
- The author's email does not match with that in the Signed-off-by:
- line(s). This can be sometimes caused due to an improperly configured
- email client.
- This message is emitted due to any of the following reasons::
- - The email names do not match.
- - The email addresses do not match.
- - The email subaddresses do not match.
- - The email comments do not match.
- **MISSING_SIGN_OFF**
- The patch is missing a Signed-off-by line. A signed-off-by
- line should be added according to Developer's certificate of
- Origin.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#sign-your-work-the-developer-s-certificate-of-origin
- **NO_AUTHOR_SIGN_OFF**
- The author of the patch has not signed off the patch. It is
- required that a simple sign off line should be present at the
- end of explanation of the patch to denote that the author has
- written it or otherwise has the rights to pass it on as an open
- source patch.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#sign-your-work-the-developer-s-certificate-of-origin
- **DIFF_IN_COMMIT_MSG**
- Avoid having diff content in commit message.
- This causes problems when one tries to apply a file containing both
- the changelog and the diff because patch(1) tries to apply the diff
- which it found in the changelog.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
- **GERRIT_CHANGE_ID**
- To be picked up by gerrit, the footer of the commit message might
- have a Change-Id like::
- Change-Id: Ic8aaa0728a43936cd4c6e1ed590e01ba8f0fbf5b
- Signed-off-by: A. U. Thor <[email protected]>
- The Change-Id line must be removed before submitting.
- **GIT_COMMIT_ID**
- The proper way to reference a commit id is:
- commit <12+ chars of sha1> ("<title line>")
- An example may be::
- Commit e21d2170f36602ae2708 ("video: remove unnecessary
- platform_set_drvdata()") removed the unnecessary
- platform_set_drvdata(), but left the variable "dev" unused,
- delete it.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
- **BAD_FIXES_TAG**
- The Fixes: tag is malformed or does not follow the community conventions.
- This can occur if the tag have been split into multiple lines (e.g., when
- pasted in an email program with word wrapping enabled).
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
- Comparison style
- ----------------
- **ASSIGN_IN_IF**
- Do not use assignments in if condition.
- Example::
- if ((foo = bar(...)) < BAZ) {
- should be written as::
- foo = bar(...);
- if (foo < BAZ) {
- **BOOL_COMPARISON**
- Comparisons of A to true and false are better written
- as A and !A.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1365563834.27174.12.camel@joe-AO722/
- **COMPARISON_TO_NULL**
- Comparisons to NULL in the form (foo == NULL) or (foo != NULL)
- are better written as (!foo) and (foo).
- **CONSTANT_COMPARISON**
- Comparisons with a constant or upper case identifier on the left
- side of the test should be avoided.
- Indentation and Line Breaks
- ---------------------------
- **CODE_INDENT**
- Code indent should use tabs instead of spaces.
- Outside of comments, documentation and Kconfig,
- spaces are never used for indentation.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#indentation
- **DEEP_INDENTATION**
- Indentation with 6 or more tabs usually indicate overly indented
- code.
- It is suggested to refactor excessive indentation of
- if/else/for/do/while/switch statements.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1328311239.21255.24.camel@joe2Laptop/
- **SWITCH_CASE_INDENT_LEVEL**
- switch should be at the same indent as case.
- Example::
- switch (suffix) {
- case 'G':
- case 'g':
- mem <<= 30;
- break;
- case 'M':
- case 'm':
- mem <<= 20;
- break;
- case 'K':
- case 'k':
- mem <<= 10;
- fallthrough;
- default:
- break;
- }
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#indentation
- **LONG_LINE**
- The line has exceeded the specified maximum length.
- To use a different maximum line length, the --max-line-length=n option
- may be added while invoking checkpatch.
- Earlier, the default line length was 80 columns. Commit bdc48fa11e46
- ("checkpatch/coding-style: deprecate 80-column warning") increased the
- limit to 100 columns. This is not a hard limit either and it's
- preferable to stay within 80 columns whenever possible.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#breaking-long-lines-and-strings
- **LONG_LINE_STRING**
- A string starts before but extends beyond the maximum line length.
- To use a different maximum line length, the --max-line-length=n option
- may be added while invoking checkpatch.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#breaking-long-lines-and-strings
- **LONG_LINE_COMMENT**
- A comment starts before but extends beyond the maximum line length.
- To use a different maximum line length, the --max-line-length=n option
- may be added while invoking checkpatch.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#breaking-long-lines-and-strings
- **SPLIT_STRING**
- Quoted strings that appear as messages in userspace and can be
- grepped, should not be split across multiple lines.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20120203052727.GA15035@leaf/
- **MULTILINE_DEREFERENCE**
- A single dereferencing identifier spanned on multiple lines like::
- struct_identifier->member[index].
- member = <foo>;
- is generally hard to follow. It can easily lead to typos and so makes
- the code vulnerable to bugs.
- If fixing the multiple line dereferencing leads to an 80 column
- violation, then either rewrite the code in a more simple way or if the
- starting part of the dereferencing identifier is the same and used at
- multiple places then store it in a temporary variable, and use that
- temporary variable only at all the places. For example, if there are
- two dereferencing identifiers::
- member1->member2->member3.foo1;
- member1->member2->member3.foo2;
- then store the member1->member2->member3 part in a temporary variable.
- It not only helps to avoid the 80 column violation but also reduces
- the program size by removing the unnecessary dereferences.
- But if none of the above methods work then ignore the 80 column
- violation because it is much easier to read a dereferencing identifier
- on a single line.
- **TRAILING_STATEMENTS**
- Trailing statements (for example after any conditional) should be
- on the next line.
- Statements, such as::
- if (x == y) break;
- should be::
- if (x == y)
- break;
- Macros, Attributes and Symbols
- ------------------------------
- **ARRAY_SIZE**
- The ARRAY_SIZE(foo) macro should be preferred over
- sizeof(foo)/sizeof(foo[0]) for finding number of elements in an
- array.
- The macro is defined in include/linux/kernel.h::
- #define ARRAY_SIZE(x) (sizeof(x) / sizeof((x)[0]))
- **AVOID_EXTERNS**
- Function prototypes don't need to be declared extern in .h
- files. It's assumed by the compiler and is unnecessary.
- **AVOID_L_PREFIX**
- Local symbol names that are prefixed with `.L` should be avoided,
- as this has special meaning for the assembler; a symbol entry will
- not be emitted into the symbol table. This can prevent `objtool`
- from generating correct unwind info.
- Symbols with STB_LOCAL binding may still be used, and `.L` prefixed
- local symbol names are still generally usable within a function,
- but `.L` prefixed local symbol names should not be used to denote
- the beginning or end of code regions via
- `SYM_CODE_START_LOCAL`/`SYM_CODE_END`
- **BIT_MACRO**
- Defines like: 1 << <digit> could be BIT(digit).
- The BIT() macro is defined via include/linux/bits.h::
- #define BIT(nr) (1UL << (nr))
- **CONST_READ_MOSTLY**
- When a variable is tagged with the __read_mostly annotation, it is a
- signal to the compiler that accesses to the variable will be mostly
- reads and rarely(but NOT never) a write.
- const __read_mostly does not make any sense as const data is already
- read-only. The __read_mostly annotation thus should be removed.
- **DATE_TIME**
- It is generally desirable that building the same source code with
- the same set of tools is reproducible, i.e. the output is always
- exactly the same.
- The kernel does *not* use the ``__DATE__`` and ``__TIME__`` macros,
- and enables warnings if they are used as they can lead to
- non-deterministic builds.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/kbuild/reproducible-builds.html#timestamps
- **DEFINE_ARCH_HAS**
- The ARCH_HAS_xyz and ARCH_HAVE_xyz patterns are wrong.
- For big conceptual features use Kconfig symbols instead. And for
- smaller things where we have compatibility fallback functions but
- want architectures able to override them with optimized ones, we
- should either use weak functions (appropriate for some cases), or
- the symbol that protects them should be the same symbol we use.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFycQ9XJvEOsiM3txHL5bjUc8CeKWJNR_H+MiicaddB42Q@mail.gmail.com/
- **DO_WHILE_MACRO_WITH_TRAILING_SEMICOLON**
- do {} while(0) macros should not have a trailing semicolon.
- **INIT_ATTRIBUTE**
- Const init definitions should use __initconst instead of
- __initdata.
- Similarly init definitions without const require a separate
- use of const.
- **INLINE_LOCATION**
- The inline keyword should sit between storage class and type.
- For example, the following segment::
- inline static int example_function(void)
- {
- ...
- }
- should be::
- static inline int example_function(void)
- {
- ...
- }
- **MISPLACED_INIT**
- It is possible to use section markers on variables in a way
- which gcc doesn't understand (or at least not the way the
- developer intended)::
- static struct __initdata samsung_pll_clock exynos4_plls[nr_plls] = {
- does not put exynos4_plls in the .initdata section. The __initdata
- marker can be virtually anywhere on the line, except right after
- "struct". The preferred location is before the "=" sign if there is
- one, or before the trailing ";" otherwise.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1377655732.3619.19.camel@joe-AO722/
- **MULTISTATEMENT_MACRO_USE_DO_WHILE**
- Macros with multiple statements should be enclosed in a
- do - while block. Same should also be the case for macros
- starting with `if` to avoid logic defects::
- #define macrofun(a, b, c) \
- do { \
- if (a == 5) \
- do_this(b, c); \
- } while (0)
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#macros-enums-and-rtl
- **PREFER_FALLTHROUGH**
- Use the `fallthrough;` pseudo keyword instead of
- `/* fallthrough */` like comments.
- **TRAILING_SEMICOLON**
- Macro definition should not end with a semicolon. The macro
- invocation style should be consistent with function calls.
- This can prevent any unexpected code paths::
- #define MAC do_something;
- If this macro is used within a if else statement, like::
- if (some_condition)
- MAC;
- else
- do_something;
- Then there would be a compilation error, because when the macro is
- expanded there are two trailing semicolons, so the else branch gets
- orphaned.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1399671106.2912.21.camel@joe-AO725/
- **SINGLE_STATEMENT_DO_WHILE_MACRO**
- For the multi-statement macros, it is necessary to use the do-while
- loop to avoid unpredictable code paths. The do-while loop helps to
- group the multiple statements into a single one so that a
- function-like macro can be used as a function only.
- But for the single statement macros, it is unnecessary to use the
- do-while loop. Although the code is syntactically correct but using
- the do-while loop is redundant. So remove the do-while loop for single
- statement macros.
- **WEAK_DECLARATION**
- Using weak declarations like __attribute__((weak)) or __weak
- can have unintended link defects. Avoid using them.
- Functions and Variables
- -----------------------
- **CAMELCASE**
- Avoid CamelCase Identifiers.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#naming
- **CONST_CONST**
- Using `const <type> const *` is generally meant to be
- written `const <type> * const`.
- **CONST_STRUCT**
- Using const is generally a good idea. Checkpatch reads
- a list of frequently used structs that are always or
- almost always constant.
- The existing structs list can be viewed from
- `scripts/const_structs.checkpatch`.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/alpine.DEB.2.10.1608281509480.3321@hadrien/
- **EMBEDDED_FUNCTION_NAME**
- Embedded function names are less appropriate to use as
- refactoring can cause function renaming. Prefer the use of
- "%s", __func__ to embedded function names.
- Note that this does not work with -f (--file) checkpatch option
- as it depends on patch context providing the function name.
- **FUNCTION_ARGUMENTS**
- This warning is emitted due to any of the following reasons:
- 1. Arguments for the function declaration do not follow
- the identifier name. Example::
- void foo
- (int bar, int baz)
- This should be corrected to::
- void foo(int bar, int baz)
- 2. Some arguments for the function definition do not
- have an identifier name. Example::
- void foo(int)
- All arguments should have identifier names.
- **FUNCTION_WITHOUT_ARGS**
- Function declarations without arguments like::
- int foo()
- should be::
- int foo(void)
- **GLOBAL_INITIALISERS**
- Global variables should not be initialized explicitly to
- 0 (or NULL, false, etc.). Your compiler (or rather your
- loader, which is responsible for zeroing out the relevant
- sections) automatically does it for you.
- **INITIALISED_STATIC**
- Static variables should not be initialized explicitly to zero.
- Your compiler (or rather your loader) automatically does
- it for you.
- **MULTIPLE_ASSIGNMENTS**
- Multiple assignments on a single line makes the code unnecessarily
- complicated. So on a single line assign value to a single variable
- only, this makes the code more readable and helps avoid typos.
- **RETURN_PARENTHESES**
- return is not a function and as such doesn't need parentheses::
- return (bar);
- can simply be::
- return bar;
- Permissions
- -----------
- **DEVICE_ATTR_PERMS**
- The permissions used in DEVICE_ATTR are unusual.
- Typically only three permissions are used - 0644 (RW), 0444 (RO)
- and 0200 (WO).
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/filesystems/sysfs.html#attributes
- **EXECUTE_PERMISSIONS**
- There is no reason for source files to be executable. The executable
- bit can be removed safely.
- **EXPORTED_WORLD_WRITABLE**
- Exporting world writable sysfs/debugfs files is usually a bad thing.
- When done arbitrarily they can introduce serious security bugs.
- In the past, some of the debugfs vulnerabilities would seemingly allow
- any local user to write arbitrary values into device registers - a
- situation from which little good can be expected to emerge.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-arm-kernel/[email protected]/
- **NON_OCTAL_PERMISSIONS**
- Permission bits should use 4 digit octal permissions (like 0700 or 0444).
- Avoid using any other base like decimal.
- **SYMBOLIC_PERMS**
- Permission bits in the octal form are more readable and easier to
- understand than their symbolic counterparts because many command-line
- tools use this notation. Experienced kernel developers have been using
- these traditional Unix permission bits for decades and so they find it
- easier to understand the octal notation than the symbolic macros.
- For example, it is harder to read S_IWUSR|S_IRUGO than 0644, which
- obscures the developer's intent rather than clarifying it.
- See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFw5v23T-zvDZp-MmD_EYxF8WbafwwB59934FV7g21uMGQ@mail.gmail.com/
- Spacing and Brackets
- --------------------
- **ASSIGNMENT_CONTINUATIONS**
- Assignment operators should not be written at the start of a
- line but should follow the operand at the previous line.
- **BRACES**
- The placement of braces is stylistically incorrect.
- The preferred way is to put the opening brace last on the line,
- and put the closing brace first::
- if (x is true) {
- we do y
- }
- This applies for all non-functional blocks.
- However, there is one special case, namely functions: they have the
- opening brace at the beginning of the next line, thus::
- int function(int x)
- {
- body of function
- }
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
- **BRACKET_SPACE**
- Whitespace before opening bracket '[' is prohibited.
- There are some exceptions:
- 1. With a type on the left::
- int [] a;
- 2. At the beginning of a line for slice initialisers::
- [0...10] = 5,
- 3. Inside a curly brace::
- = { [0...10] = 5 }
- **CONCATENATED_STRING**
- Concatenated elements should have a space in between.
- Example::
- printk(KERN_INFO"bar");
- should be::
- printk(KERN_INFO "bar");
- **ELSE_AFTER_BRACE**
- `else {` should follow the closing block `}` on the same line.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
- **LINE_SPACING**
- Vertical space is wasted given the limited number of lines an
- editor window can display when multiple blank lines are used.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
- **OPEN_BRACE**
- The opening brace should be following the function definitions on the
- next line. For any non-functional block it should be on the same line
- as the last construct.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
- **POINTER_LOCATION**
- When using pointer data or a function that returns a pointer type,
- the preferred use of * is adjacent to the data name or function name
- and not adjacent to the type name.
- Examples::
- char *linux_banner;
- unsigned long long memparse(char *ptr, char **retptr);
- char *match_strdup(substring_t *s);
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
- **SPACING**
- Whitespace style used in the kernel sources is described in kernel docs.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
- **TRAILING_WHITESPACE**
- Trailing whitespace should always be removed.
- Some editors highlight the trailing whitespace and cause visual
- distractions when editing files.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
- **UNNECESSARY_PARENTHESES**
- Parentheses are not required in the following cases:
- 1. Function pointer uses::
- (foo->bar)();
- could be::
- foo->bar();
- 2. Comparisons in if::
- if ((foo->bar) && (foo->baz))
- if ((foo == bar))
- could be::
- if (foo->bar && foo->baz)
- if (foo == bar)
- 3. addressof/dereference single Lvalues::
- &(foo->bar)
- *(foo->bar)
- could be::
- &foo->bar
- *foo->bar
- **WHILE_AFTER_BRACE**
- while should follow the closing bracket on the same line::
- do {
- ...
- } while(something);
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
- Others
- ------
- **CONFIG_DESCRIPTION**
- Kconfig symbols should have a help text which fully describes
- it.
- **CORRUPTED_PATCH**
- The patch seems to be corrupted or lines are wrapped.
- Please regenerate the patch file before sending it to the maintainer.
- **CVS_KEYWORD**
- Since linux moved to git, the CVS markers are no longer used.
- So, CVS style keywords ($Id$, $Revision$, $Log$) should not be
- added.
- **DEFAULT_NO_BREAK**
- switch default case is sometimes written as "default:;". This can
- cause new cases added below default to be defective.
- A "break;" should be added after empty default statement to avoid
- unwanted fallthrough.
- **DOS_LINE_ENDINGS**
- For DOS-formatted patches, there are extra ^M symbols at the end of
- the line. These should be removed.
- **DT_SCHEMA_BINDING_PATCH**
- DT bindings moved to a json-schema based format instead of
- freeform text.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/devicetree/bindings/writing-schema.html
- **DT_SPLIT_BINDING_PATCH**
- Devicetree bindings should be their own patch. This is because
- bindings are logically independent from a driver implementation,
- they have a different maintainer (even though they often
- are applied via the same tree), and it makes for a cleaner history in the
- DT only tree created with git-filter-branch.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/devicetree/bindings/submitting-patches.html#i-for-patch-submitters
- **EMBEDDED_FILENAME**
- Embedding the complete filename path inside the file isn't particularly
- useful as often the path is moved around and becomes incorrect.
- **FILE_PATH_CHANGES**
- Whenever files are added, moved, or deleted, the MAINTAINERS file
- patterns can be out of sync or outdated.
- So MAINTAINERS might need updating in these cases.
- **MEMSET**
- The memset use appears to be incorrect. This may be caused due to
- badly ordered parameters. Please recheck the usage.
- **NOT_UNIFIED_DIFF**
- The patch file does not appear to be in unified-diff format. Please
- regenerate the patch file before sending it to the maintainer.
- **PRINTF_0XDECIMAL**
- Prefixing 0x with decimal output is defective and should be corrected.
- **SPDX_LICENSE_TAG**
- The source file is missing or has an improper SPDX identifier tag.
- The Linux kernel requires the precise SPDX identifier in all source files,
- and it is thoroughly documented in the kernel docs.
- See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/license-rules.html
- **TYPO_SPELLING**
- Some words may have been misspelled. Consider reviewing them.
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