Message-ID: <541B9D5F.20008@freescale.com>
Date:	Thu, 18 Sep 2014 22:05:03 -0500
From:	German Rivera <German.Rivera@...escale.com>
To:	Kim Phillips <kim.phillips@...escale.com>,
	Alexander Graf <agraf@...e.de>
CC:	"<gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>" <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
	"<arnd@...db.de>" <arnd@...db.de>,
	"<linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	"<stuart.yoder@...escale.com>" <stuart.yoder@...escale.com>,
	"<scottwood@...escale.com>" <scottwood@...escale.com>,
	"<linuxppc-release@...ux.freescale.net>" 
	<linuxppc-release@...ux.freescale.net>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/4] drivers/bus: Added Freescale Management Complex APIs


On 09/18/2014 03:22 PM, Kim Phillips wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:14:03 +0200

>>> unnecessarily complicated error path, plus a simpler
>>>> implementation can be made if fn can return the mapped address, like
>>>> so:
>>>>
>>>> static void __iomem *map_mc_portal(phys_addr_t mc_portal_phys_addr,
>>>>                                     uint32_t mc_portal_size)
>>>> {
>>>>          struct resource *res;
>>>>          void __iomem *mapped_addr;
>>>>
>>>>          res = request_mem_region(mc_portal_phys_addr, mc_portal_size,
>>>>                                   "mc_portal");
>>>>          if (!res)
>>>>                  return NULL;
>>>>
>>>>          mapped_addr = ioremap_nocache(mc_portal_phys_addr,
>>>>                                        mc_portal_size);
>>>>          if (!mapped_addr)
>>>>                  release_mem_region(mc_portal_phys_addr, mc_portal_size);
>>>>
>>>>          return mapped_addr;
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> the callsite can return -ENOMEM to its caller if returned NULL.  This
>>>> can be improved even further if devm_ functions are used:  this is
>>>> just an example of how to simplify the code using early returns
>>>> instead of goto error.
>>>
>>> I disagree. Having a common error return point is more maintainable than having multiple returns as having the clean-up logic in one place is more maintainable and makes the min path (non-error) more readable.
>
> my comment is not that much different from Joe's here:
>
> https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/9/17/381
>
> but hopefully all this will change with a devm_ based implementation.
>
I will refactor this function to use devm_ functions, to simplify the 
error cleanup logic as you suggested, but still keep the current
signature of the function, as I don't think it is a good practice
to just return NULL in case of error, hiding the actual cause of the 
error. Also, mixing returning a valid pointer and an error encoded
as an invalid pointer is not clean and can be error-prone for callers, 
if some caller just checks for NULL instead of using IS_ERR() ir
IS_ERR_OR_NULL().


>>>>> +int __must_check fsl_create_mc_io(phys_addr_t mc_portal_phys_addr,
>>>>> +                  uint32_t mc_portal_size,
>>>>> +                  uint32_t flags, struct fsl_mc_io **new_mc_io)
>>>>> +{
>>>>> +    int error = -EINVAL;
>>>>> +    struct fsl_mc_io *mc_io = NULL;
>>>>> +
>>>>> +    mc_io = kzalloc(sizeof(*mc_io), GFP_KERNEL);
>>>>> +    if (mc_io == NULL) {
>>>>> +        error = -ENOMEM;
>>>>> +        pr_err("No memory to allocate mc_io\n");
>>>>> +        goto error;
>>>>> +    }
>>>>> +
>>>>> +    mc_io->magic = FSL_MC_IO_MAGIC;
>>>>> +    mc_io->flags = flags;
>>>>> +    mc_io->portal_phys_addr = mc_portal_phys_addr;
>>>>> +    mc_io->portal_size = mc_portal_size;
>>>>> +    spin_lock_init(&mc_io->spinlock);
>>>>> +    error = map_mc_portal(mc_portal_phys_addr,
>>>>> +                  mc_portal_size, &mc_io->portal_virt_addr);
>>>>> +    if (error < 0)
>>>>> +        goto error;
>>>>> +
>>>>> +    *new_mc_io = mc_io;
>>>>> +    return 0;
>>>>
>>>> if a fn only returns an address or error, it can return ERR_PTR
>>>> (e.g., -ENOMEM), and the callsite use IS_ERR() to determine whether
>>>> there was an error or address returned.  This makes code much
>>>> simpler instead of passing address values back by reference.
>>> I disagree. I don't see why the alternative you suggest makes the code "much simpler".
>
> because it eliminates the need for the extra pass-by-reference
> argument struct fsl_mc_io **new_mc_io.
>
Having an extra pass-by-reference argument does not make the code
that complicated. Bit more importantly the simplicity that you gain
by not using the extra pass-by-reference pointer comes at the price
of making the interface less safer to use (more error-prone
for the caller as I mentioned above), which I think it is a bad trade off.

>>>>> +void fsl_destroy_mc_io(struct fsl_mc_io *mc_io)
>>>>> +{
>>>>> +    if (WARN_ON(mc_io->magic != FSL_MC_IO_MAGIC))
>>>>> +        return;
>>>>> +
>>>>> +    if (mc_io->portal_virt_addr != NULL) {
>>>>> +        unmap_mc_portal(mc_io->portal_phys_addr,
>>>>> +                mc_io->portal_size, mc_io->portal_virt_addr);
>>>>
>>>> unmap_mc_portal already checks for virt_addr, this is another
>>>> example where the code goes too far checking for NULL.
>>> I disagree. Having the extra check is harmless and more importantly makes the intent explicit that we should only call unmap_mc_portal if we called map_mc_portal earlier.
>
> the code is doing this:
>
>          if (mc_io->portal_virt_addr != NULL) {
> 	        if (WARN_ON(mc_portal_virt_addr == NULL))
>          	        return;
>
> which is redundant and therefore makes it unnecessarily complicated,
> after all, a stack trace will occur if mc_portal_virt_addr is
> referenced anyway, making the WARN_ON clause redundant, too.
>
All this will be gone with the refactoring to use devm_ APIs.

>>>>> +        mc_io->portal_virt_addr = NULL;
>>>>> +    }
>>>>> +
>>>>> +    mc_io->magic = 0x0;
>>>>> +    kfree(mc_io);
>>>>> +}
>
> btw, what's the point of zeroing out things that are being freed?
>
In this particular case, this comment doe snot apply anymore, as
the magic filed will be removed.

>>>>> +/**
>>>>> + * @brief    Management Complex firmware version information
>>>>> + */
>>>>> +#define MC_VER_MAJOR 2
>>>>> +#define MC_VER_MINOR 0
>>>>
>>>> code should be adjusted to run on all *compatible* versions of h/w,
>>>> not strictly the one set in these defines.
>>> This comment is not precise enough be actionable.
>>> What exactly you want to be changed  here?
>>
>> I think the easy thing to do is to convert the exact version check into a ranged version check: have minimum and maximum versions you support. Or a list of exact versions you support. Or not check for the version at all - or only for the major version and guarantee that the major version indicates backwards compatibility.
>
> yes, this was my point: elsewhere I noticed the code denies to run
> iff those defines are not matched exactly: that code should change
> to run as Alex describes.
>
As I mentioned in the reply to Alex, I will remove the minor version check.

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