Message-Id: <DG0A0CPEYCIR.1ZMN457FUXZXM@nvidia.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2026 23:02:03 +0900
From: "Alexandre Courbot" <acourbot@...dia.com>
To: "Yury Norov" <ynorov@...dia.com>
Cc: "Gary Guo" <gary@...yguo.net>, "Joel Fernandes" <joelagnelf@...dia.com>,
 "Miguel Ojeda" <ojeda@...nel.org>, "Boqun Feng" <boqun.feng@...il.com>,
 Björn Roy Baron <bjorn3_gh@...tonmail.com>, "Benno Lossin"
 <lossin@...nel.org>, "Andreas Hindborg" <a.hindborg@...nel.org>, "Alice
 Ryhl" <aliceryhl@...gle.com>, "Trevor Gross" <tmgross@...ch.edu>, "Danilo
 Krummrich" <dakr@...nel.org>, "Yury Norov" <yury.norov@...il.com>, "John
 Hubbard" <jhubbard@...dia.com>, "Alistair Popple" <apopple@...dia.com>,
 "Timur Tabi" <ttabi@...dia.com>, "Edwin Peer" <epeer@...dia.com>, "Eliot
 Courtney" <ecourtney@...dia.com>, "Daniel Almeida"
 <daniel.almeida@...labora.com>, "Dirk Behme" <dirk.behme@...bosch.com>,
 "Steven Price" <steven.price@....com>, <rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org>,
 <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 3/6] rust: add `bitfield!` macro

On Wed Jan 28, 2026 at 1:33 PM JST, Yury Norov wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 10:23:36AM +0900, Alexandre Courbot wrote:
>> tatus: O
>> Content-Length: 4095
>> Lines: 108
>> 
>> On Wed Jan 28, 2026 at 12:02 AM JST, Gary Guo wrote:
>> > On Tue Jan 27, 2026 at 3:25 AM GMT, Joel Fernandes wrote:
>> >> On Jan 26, 2026, at 9:55 PM, Yury Norov <ynorov@...dia.com> wrote:
>> >>> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 10:35:49PM +0900, Alexandre Courbot wrote:
>> >>> > On Wed Jan 21, 2026 at 6:16 PM JST, Yury Norov wrote:
>> >>> > > On Tue, Jan 20, 2026 at 03:17:56PM +0900, Alexandre Courbot wrote:
>> >>> > > > Add a macro for defining bitfield structs with bounds-checked accessors.
>> >>> > > >
>> >>> > > > Each field is represented as a `Bounded` of the appropriate bit width,
>> >>> > > > ensuring field values are never silently truncated.
>> >>> > > >
>> >>> > > > Fields can optionally be converted to/from custom types, either fallibly
>> >>> > > > or infallibly.
>> >>> > > >
>> >>> > > > Signed-off-by: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@...dia.com>
>> >>> > > > ---
>> >>> > > > rust/kernel/bitfield.rs | 503 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> >>> > > > rust/kernel/lib.rs      |   1 +
>> >>> > > > 2 files changed, 504 insertions(+)
>> >> [...]
>> >>> > > > +/// // Setters can be chained. Bounded::new::<N>() does compile-time bounds checking.
>> >>> > > > +/// let color = Rgb::default()
>> >>> > > > +///     .set_red(Bounded::<u16, _>::new::<0x10>())
>> >>> > > > +///     .set_green(Bounded::<u16, _>::new::<0x1f>())
>> >>> > > > +///     .set_blue(Bounded::<u16, _>::new::<0x18>());
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > > Is there a way to just say:
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > >    let color = Rgb::default().
>> >>> > >            .set_red(0x10)
>> >>> > >            .set_green(0x1f)
>> >>> > >            .set_blue(0x18)
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > > I think it should be the default style. Later in the patch you say:
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > >    Each field is internally represented as a [`Bounded`]
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > > So, let's keep implementation decoupled from an interface?
>> >>> >
>> >>> > That is unfortunately not feasible, but the syntax above should seldomly
>> >>> > be used outside of examples.
>> >>>
>> >>> The above short syntax is definitely more desired over that wordy and
>> >>> non-trivial version that exposes implementation internals.
>> >>>
>> >>> A regular user doesn't care of the exact mechanism that protects the
>> >>> bitfields. He wants to just assign numbers to the fields, and let
>> >>> your machinery to take care of the integrity.
>> >>>
>> >>> Can you please explain in details why that's not feasible, please
>> >>> do it in commit message. If it's an implementation constraint,
>> >>> please consider to re-implement.
>> >>
>> >> If the issue is the excessive turbofish syntax, how about a macro? For
>> >> example:
>> >>
>> >>     let color = Rgb::default()
>> >>         .set_red(bounded!(u16, 0x10))
>> >>         .set_green(bounded!(u16, 0x1f))
>> >>         .set_blue(bounded!(u16, 0x18));
>> >>
>> >> This hides the turbofish and Bounded internals while still providing
>> >> compile-time bounds checking.
>> >
>> > I think this could be the way forward, if we also get type inference working
>> > properly.
>> >
>> >     Rgb::default()
>> >         .set_read(bounded!(0x10))
>> >         .set_green(bounded!(0x1f))
>> >         .set_blue(bounded!(0x18))
>> >
>> > is roughly the limit that I find acceptable (`Bounded::<u16, _>::new::<0x10>()`
>> > is something way too verbose so I find it unacceptable).
>
> I agree, this version is on the edge. It probably may be acceptable
> because it highlights that the numbers passed in setters are some
> special numbers. But yeah, it's a weak excuse.
>
> If it was C, it could be just as simple as 
>
>         #define set_red(v) __set_red(bounded(v))
>
> So...
>
> I'm not a rust professional, but I've been told many times that macro
> rules in rust are so powerful that they can do any magic, even mimic
> another languages.
>
> For fun, I asked AI to draw an example where rust structure is
> initialized just like normal python does, and that's what I've got:
>
>   struct Foo {
>       bar: i32,
>       baz: String,
>   }
>   
>   // Your specific constructor logic
>   fn construct_bar(v: i32) -> i32 { v * 2 }
>   fn construct_baz(v: i32) -> String { v.to_string() }
>   
>   // Helper macro to select the right function for a single field
>   macro_rules! get_ctor {
>       (bar, $val:expr) => { construct_bar($val) };
>       (baz, $val:expr) => { construct_baz($val) };
>   }
>   
>   macro_rules! python_init {
>       ($t:ident { $($field:ident = $val:expr),* $(,)? }) => {
>           $t {
>               // For each field, we call the dispatcher separately
>               $($field: get_ctor!($field, $val)),*
>           }
>       };
>   }
>   
>   fn main() {
>       let foo = python_init!(Foo { bar = 10, baz = 500 });
>   
>       println!("bar: {}", foo.bar); // Output: 20
>       println!("baz: {}", foo.baz); // Output: "500"
>   }
>
> Indeed it's possible!

Oh yeah you can do all sorts of crazy sh** with Rust macros. :)

>
> Again, I'm not a rust professional and I can't evaluate quality of the
> AI-generated code, neither I can ensure there's no nasty pitfalls.
>
> But as a user, I can say that 
>         
>         let rgb = bitfield!(Rgb { red: 0x10, green: 0x1f, blue: 0x18 })
>
> would be way more readable than this beast:
>
>    let color = Rgb::default()
>        .set_red(Bounded::<u16, _>::new::<0x10>())
>        .set_green(Bounded::<u16, _>::new::<0x1f>())
>        .set_blue(Bounded::<u16, _>::new::<0x18>());

Without having tested the idea, a macro wrapping the whole bitfield (and
not just trying to create a bounded) looks doable. Of course, it would
have to rely on some underlying mechanism to set the fields, which could
be the abomination above, or something a bit more convenient.

It looks like we are converging towards introducing the
`with_const_field` setter for now with registers ; when we extract the
`bitfield!` I think I would like to entertain the introduction of a
macro close to what you suggested above.

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