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6576b74b | 1 | QEMU Coding Style |
e68b98dc AL |
2 | ================= |
3 | ||
b6469683 BS |
4 | Please use the script checkpatch.pl in the scripts directory to check |
5 | patches before submitting. | |
6 | ||
e68b98dc AL |
7 | 1. Whitespace |
8 | ||
9 | Of course, the most important aspect in any coding style is whitespace. | |
10 | Crusty old coders who have trouble spotting the glasses on their noses | |
11 | can tell the difference between a tab and eight spaces from a distance | |
12 | of approximately fifteen parsecs. Many a flamewar have been fought and | |
13 | lost on this issue. | |
14 | ||
15 | QEMU indents are four spaces. Tabs are never used, except in Makefiles | |
1cb499fa | 16 | where they have been irreversibly coded into the syntax. |
e68b98dc AL |
17 | Spaces of course are superior to tabs because: |
18 | ||
19 | - You have just one way to specify whitespace, not two. Ambiguity breeds | |
20 | mistakes. | |
21 | - The confusion surrounding 'use tabs to indent, spaces to justify' is gone. | |
22 | - Tab indents push your code to the right, making your screen seriously | |
23 | unbalanced. | |
24 | - Tabs will be rendered incorrectly on editors who are misconfigured not | |
25 | to use tab stops of eight positions. | |
26 | - Tabs are rendered badly in patches, causing off-by-one errors in almost | |
27 | every line. | |
28 | - It is the QEMU coding style. | |
29 | ||
30 | Do not leave whitespace dangling off the ends of lines. | |
31 | ||
32 | 2. Line width | |
33 | ||
8fbe3d1f PB |
34 | Lines should be 80 characters; try not to make them longer. |
35 | ||
36 | Sometimes it is hard to do, especially when dealing with QEMU subsystems | |
37 | that use long function or symbol names. Even in that case, do not make | |
38 | lines much longer than 80 characters. | |
e68b98dc AL |
39 | |
40 | Rationale: | |
41 | - Some people like to tile their 24" screens with a 6x4 matrix of 80x24 | |
42 | xterms and use vi in all of them. The best way to punish them is to | |
43 | let them keep doing it. | |
44 | - Code and especially patches is much more readable if limited to a sane | |
45 | line length. Eighty is traditional. | |
8fbe3d1f PB |
46 | - The four-space indentation makes the most common excuse ("But look |
47 | at all that white space on the left!") moot. | |
e68b98dc AL |
48 | - It is the QEMU coding style. |
49 | ||
50 | 3. Naming | |
51 | ||
c227f099 | 52 | Variables are lower_case_with_underscores; easy to type and read. Structured |
e3c52bf2 PM |
53 | type names are in CamelCase; harder to type but standing out. Enum type |
54 | names and function type names should also be in CamelCase. Scalar type | |
c227f099 AL |
55 | names are lower_case_with_underscores_ending_with_a_t, like the POSIX |
56 | uint64_t and family. Note that this last convention contradicts POSIX | |
57 | and is therefore likely to be changed. | |
58 | ||
77ac4862 AK |
59 | When wrapping standard library functions, use the prefix qemu_ to alert |
60 | readers that they are seeing a wrapped version; otherwise avoid this prefix. | |
61 | ||
e68b98dc AL |
62 | 4. Block structure |
63 | ||
64 | Every indented statement is braced; even if the block contains just one | |
65 | statement. The opening brace is on the line that contains the control | |
66 | flow statement that introduces the new block; the closing brace is on the | |
67 | same line as the else keyword, or on a line by itself if there is no else | |
68 | keyword. Example: | |
69 | ||
70 | if (a == 5) { | |
71 | printf("a was 5.\n"); | |
72 | } else if (a == 6) { | |
73 | printf("a was 6.\n"); | |
74 | } else { | |
75 | printf("a was something else entirely.\n"); | |
76 | } | |
77 | ||
5f070c5f AK |
78 | Note that 'else if' is considered a single statement; otherwise a long if/ |
79 | else if/else if/.../else sequence would need an indent for every else | |
80 | statement. | |
81 | ||
e68b98dc AL |
82 | An exception is the opening brace for a function; for reasons of tradition |
83 | and clarity it comes on a line by itself: | |
84 | ||
85 | void a_function(void) | |
86 | { | |
87 | do_something(); | |
88 | } | |
89 | ||
90 | Rationale: a consistent (except for functions...) bracing style reduces | |
91 | ambiguity and avoids needless churn when lines are added or removed. | |
92 | Furthermore, it is the QEMU coding style. | |
e939c6ed EH |
93 | |
94 | 5. Declarations | |
95 | ||
690a35e1 PB |
96 | Mixed declarations (interleaving statements and declarations within |
97 | blocks) are generally not allowed; declarations should be at the beginning | |
98 | of blocks. | |
99 | ||
100 | Every now and then, an exception is made for declarations inside a | |
101 | #ifdef or #ifndef block: if the code looks nicer, such declarations can | |
102 | be placed at the top of the block even if there are statements above. | |
103 | On the other hand, however, it's often best to move that #ifdef/#ifndef | |
104 | block to a separate function altogether. | |
2bb0020c GA |
105 | |
106 | 6. Conditional statements | |
107 | ||
108 | When comparing a variable for (in)equality with a constant, list the | |
109 | constant on the right, as in: | |
110 | ||
111 | if (a == 1) { | |
112 | /* Reads like: "If a equals 1" */ | |
113 | do_something(); | |
114 | } | |
115 | ||
116 | Rationale: Yoda conditions (as in 'if (1 == a)') are awkward to read. | |
117 | Besides, good compilers already warn users when '==' is mis-typed as '=', | |
118 | even when the constant is on the right. |