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Message-ID: <470b5f70-b592-43a7-81ba-c7f1c852b9f3@proton.me>
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:03:49 +0000
From: Benno Lossin <benno.lossin@...ton.me>
To: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@...nel.org>, ojeda@...nel.org, alex.gaynor@...il.com, wedsonaf@...il.com, boqun.feng@...il.com, gary@...yguo.net, bjorn3_gh@...tonmail.com, a.hindborg@...sung.com, aliceryhl@...gle.com, akpm@...ux-foundation.org
Cc: daniel.almeida@...labora.com, faith.ekstrand@...labora.com, boris.brezillon@...labora.com, lina@...hilina.net, mcanal@...lia.com, zhiw@...dia.com, acurrid@...dia.com, cjia@...dia.com, jhubbard@...dia.com, airlied@...hat.com, ajanulgu@...hat.com, lyude@...hat.com, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v4 01/28] rust: alloc: add `Allocator` trait
On 05.08.24 17:19, Danilo Krummrich wrote:
> Add a kernel specific `Allocator` trait, that in contrast to the one in
> Rust's core library doesn't require unstable features and supports GFP
> flags.
>
> Subsequent patches add the following trait implementors: `Kmalloc`,
> `Vmalloc` and `KVmalloc`.
>
> Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@...nel.org>
> ---
> rust/kernel/alloc.rs | 79 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 1 file changed, 79 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/rust/kernel/alloc.rs b/rust/kernel/alloc.rs
> index 1966bd407017..8a71a589469d 100644
> --- a/rust/kernel/alloc.rs
> +++ b/rust/kernel/alloc.rs
> @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
> /// Indicates an allocation error.
> #[derive(Copy, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
> pub struct AllocError;
> +use core::{alloc::Layout, ptr::NonNull};
>
> /// Flags to be used when allocating memory.
> ///
> @@ -86,3 +87,81 @@ pub mod flags {
> /// small allocations.
> pub const GFP_NOWAIT: Flags = Flags(bindings::GFP_NOWAIT);
> }
> +
> +/// The kernel's [`Allocator`] trait.
> +///
> +/// An implementation of [`Allocator`] can allocate, re-allocate and free memory buffer described
> +/// via [`Layout`].
> +///
> +/// [`Allocator`] is designed to be implemented as a ZST; [`Allocator`] functions do not operate on
> +/// an object instance.
This will prevent us from implementing arena-type allocators [^1]. Do we
want/need those?
I have heard that some people use them in embedded systems, but I can't
say for sure. But this is a rather big design decision, so we should
discuss it now.
[^1]: For those who don't know what I mean by that here is a quick
sketch (without handling flags and optimizations):
pub struct ArenaAlloc<const SIZE: usize> {
memory: Opaque<[u8; SIZE]>,
head: Cell<usize>,
}
impl<const SIZE: usize> ArenaAlloc<SIZE> {
pub fn new() -> Self {
Self {
memory: Opaque::uninit(),
head: 0,
}
}
}
impl<const SIZE: usize> Allocator for ArenaAlloc<SIZE> {
fn alloc(&self, layout: Layout, _flags: Flags) -> Result<NonNull<u8>, AllocError> {
let head = self.head.get();
if head + layout.size() >= SIZE {
return Err(AllocError);
}
let ptr = self.memory.get();
let ptr = ptr.cast::<u8>();
let ptr = unsafe { ptr.add(head) };
self.head.set(head + layout.size());
unsafe { NonNull::new_unchecked(ptr) }
}
unsafe fn realloc(
&self,
ptr: Option<NonNull<u8>>,
old_layout: Layout, // Note that we also need `old_layout`!
layout: Layout,
flags: Flags
) -> Result<NonNull<u8>, AllocError> {
let new = self.alloc(layout, flags)?;
let Some(ptr) = ptr else { return Ok(new); };
unsafe { core::ptr::copy_nonoverlapping(ptr.as_ptr(), new.as_ptr(), old_layout.size()) };
self.free(ptr);
Ok(new)
}
fn free(&self, ptr: NonNull<u8>) { /* noop */ }
}
> +///
> +/// In order to be able to support `#[derive(SmartPointer)]` later on, we need to avoid a design
> +/// that requires an `Allocator` to be instantiated, hence its functions must not contain any kind
> +/// of `self` parameter.
Ah I see, so since `#[derive(SmartPointer)]` needs `Box` to only consist
of one non ZST field... I skimmed the RFC discussion and it seems like a
problem that *might* be solved in the future, but probably not in the
(very) near future. I guess this is just a bullet that we have to bite.
We can always have an `ArenaBox` that can deal with that (although
without `DispatchFromDyn`).
We should revisit this when `#[derive(SmartPointer)]` becomes advanced
enough.
> +///
> +/// # Safety
> +///
> +/// Memory returned from an allocator must point to a valid memory buffer and remain valid until
> +/// it is explicitly freed.
> +///
> +/// Any pointer to a memory buffer which is currently allocated must be valid to be passed to any
> +/// other [`Allocator`] function of the same type. The same applies for a NULL pointer.
> +///
> +/// If `realloc` is called with:
> +/// - a size of zero, the given memory allocation, if any, must be freed
> +/// - a NULL pointer, a new memory allocation must be created
> +pub unsafe trait Allocator {
> + /// Allocate memory based on `layout` and `flags`.
> + ///
> + /// On success, returns a buffer represented as `NonNull<[u8]>` that satisfies the layout
> + /// constraints (i.e. minimum size and alignment as specified by `layout`).
> + ///
> + /// This function is equivalent to `realloc` when called with a NULL pointer.
> + fn alloc(layout: Layout, flags: Flags) -> Result<NonNull<[u8]>, AllocError> {
> + // SAFETY: Passing a NULL pointer to `realloc` is valid by it's safety requirements and asks
> + // for a new memory allocation.
> + unsafe { Self::realloc(None, layout, flags) }
> + }
> +
> + /// Re-allocate an existing memory allocation to satisfy the requested `layout`. If the
> + /// requested size is zero, `realloc` behaves equivalent to `free`.
> + ///
> + /// If the requested size is larger than the size of the existing allocation, a successful call
> + /// to `realloc` guarantees that the new or grown buffer has at least `Layout::size` bytes, but
> + /// may also be larger.
> + ///
> + /// If the requested size is smaller than the size of the existing allocation, `realloc` may or
> + /// may not shrink the buffer; this is implementation specific to the allocator.
> + ///
> + /// On allocation failure, the existing buffer, if any, remains valid.
> + ///
> + /// The buffer is represented as `NonNull<[u8]>`.
> + ///
> + /// # Safety
> + ///
> + /// `Some(ptr)` must point to an existing and valid memory allocation created by this allocator
This is the wrong way around, `ptr: Option<NonNull<u8>>`, so
`Some(ptr): Option<Option<NonNull<u8>>>`. Instead I would write
"If `ptr = Some(p)`, then `p` must point to...".
> + /// instance. The alignment encoded in `layout` must be smaller than or equal to the alignment
> + /// requested in the previous `alloc` or `realloc` call of the same allocation.
> + ///
> + /// Additionally, `ptr` is allowed to be `None`; in this case a new memory allocation is
> + /// created.
> + ///
> + unsafe fn realloc(
> + ptr: Option<NonNull<u8>>,
> + layout: Layout,
> + flags: Flags,
> + ) -> Result<NonNull<[u8]>, AllocError>;
> +
> + /// Free an existing memory allocation.
> + ///
> + /// # Safety
> + ///
> + /// `ptr` must point to an existing and valid memory allocation created by this `Allocator`
> + /// instance.
Additionally, you need "The memory allocation at `ptr` must never again
be read from or written to.".
---
Cheers,
Benno
> + unsafe fn free(ptr: NonNull<u8>) {
> + // SAFETY: `ptr` is guaranteed to be previously allocated with this `Allocator` or NULL.
> + // Calling `realloc` with a buffer size of zero, frees the buffer `ptr` points to.
> + let _ = unsafe { Self::realloc(Some(ptr), Layout::new::<()>(), Flags(0)) };
> + }
> +}
> --
> 2.45.2
>
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