Message-ID: <aXmRqzkKq0bAQaV4@yury>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 23:33:47 -0500
From: Yury Norov <ynorov@...dia.com>
To: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@...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 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!

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>());

Thanks,
Yury

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