linux-kernel - Re: checkpatch guide for newbies

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Message-ID: <524404A9.3030602@ahsoftware.de>
Date:	Thu, 26 Sep 2013 11:55:53 +0200
From:	Alexander Holler <holler@...oftware.de>
To:	Julia Lawall <julia.lawall@...6.fr>
CC:	Al Viro <viro@...IV.linux.org.uk>,
	Bjorn Helgaas <bhelgaas@...gle.com>,
	Peter Senna Tschudin <peter.senna@...il.com>,
	Dan Carpenter <dan.carpenter@...cle.com>,
	kernel-janitors@...r.kernel.org,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: checkpatch guide for newbies

Am 26.09.2013 07:53, schrieb Julia Lawall:

>> void get_xtime_and_monotonic_and_sleep_offset(struct timespec *xtim,
>>                                 struct timespec *wtom, struct timespec
>> *sleep);
>>
>> I like such function names ;) (ok I wouldn't have use those and), but it's
>> hard to press this into 80 characters, especially when the arguments should
>> have some meaning too (e.g. what does wtom stand for?)
>>
>> If you use that somewhere you get
>>
>>         get_xtime_and_monotonic_and_sleep_offset(a, b, c)
>>
>> using silly names and that already is a 58 characters long. So only 22 are
>> left to distribute over 3 variable names. And now think what happens if that
>> wouldn't be a void function.
> 
> Personally, I prefer to use my screen real estate for multiple 80-column 
> windows, so I can see different parts of the code at once.  Anything that 
> goes over 80 columns is very hard to read.
> 
> Perhaps it is a bad example, but I don't even find this very long name 
> very understandable.  Monotonic is an adjective and xtime and sleep are 
> nouns, so I don't understand how it all fits together.  Maybe cramming a

It just was the first long function name I came about. And sometimes a
bit background information helps a lot. So without knowing anything else
about that function, I assume the monotonic time is meant and the author
didn't want to add _time_ to the name because it already is long. In
case of the wtom I would think it's from a second author and I still
have no clue what it might be. Maybe I'm missing some backgroud
information here too and should actually read the description of the
function, if there is any. ;)

> lot of information into a variable name is not always so successful... 
> Actually, I really appreciate comments on functions, that explain the 
> purpose of the function, and the constraints on its usage.

I didn't want do suggest getting rid of (necessary or helpful) comments.

Regards,

Alexander Holler

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