Re: [PATCH v2] staging: greybus: use inline function for macros

[Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>]

On Thu, Mar 23, 2023 at 10:52:35AM +0100, Julia Lawall wrote:
> 
> 
> On Thu, 23 Mar 2023, Greg KH wrote:
> 
> > On Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 11:00:41AM +0100, Julia Lawall wrote:
> > > Greg raised the question of whether the inline function is really as
> > > efficient as a macro.
> > >
> > > I tried the following definitions:
> > >
> > > #define to_gbphy_dev(d) container_of(d, struct gbphy_device, dev)
> > >
> > > static inline struct gbphy_device *extra_to_gbphy_dev(const struct device *_dev)
> > > {
> > >        return container_of(_dev, struct gbphy_device, dev);
> > > }
> > >
> > > And the following uses:
> > >
> > > ssize_t macro_protocol_id_show(struct device *dev,
> > >                                 struct device_attribute *attr, char *buf)
> > > {
> > >         struct gbphy_device *gbphy_dev = to_gbphy_dev(dev);
> > >
> > >         return sprintf(buf, "%c macro 0x%02x\n", *buf, gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id);
> > > }
> > > ssize_t extra_protocol_id_show(struct device *dev,
> > > 				struct device_attribute *attr, char *buf)
> > > {
> > >         struct gbphy_device *gbphy_dev = extra_to_gbphy_dev(dev);
> > >
> > >         return sprintf(buf, "extra 0x%02x %c\n", gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id, *buf);
> > > }
> > >
> > > They are a little bit different to avoid too much compiler optimization.
> > >
> > > After doing make drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.s, I get similar looking
> > > code in both cases:
> > >
> > > Macro version:
> > >
> > >         .type   macro_protocol_id_show, @function
> > > macro_protocol_id_show:
> > >         endbr64
> > > 1:      call    __fentry__
> > >         .section __mcount_loc, "a",@progbits
> > >         .quad 1b
> > >         .previous
> > >         pushq   %rbp    #
> > >         movq    %rdx, %rbp      # tmp96, buf
> > >         pushq   %rbx    #
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:40: {
> > >         movq    %rdi, %rbx      # tmp95, dev
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:43:   return sprintf(buf, "%c macro 0x%02x\n", *buf, gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id);
> > >         call    __sanitizer_cov_trace_pc        #
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:43:   return sprintf(buf, "%c macro 0x%02x\n", *buf, gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id);
> > >         movq    -32(%rbx), %rax # MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_7(D) + -40B].cport_desc, MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_7(D) + -40B].cport_desc
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:43:   return sprintf(buf, "%c macro 0x%02x\n", *buf, gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id);
> > >         movzbl  0(%rbp), %edx   # *buf_9(D), *buf_9(D)
> > >         movq    %rbp, %rdi      # buf,
> > >         movq    $.LC18, %rsi    #,
> > >         movzbl  3(%rax), %ecx   # _1->protocol_id, _1->protocol_id
> > >         call    sprintf #
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:44: }
> > >         movl    $13, %eax       #,
> > >         popq    %rbx    #
> > >         popq    %rbp    #
> > >         jmp     __x86_return_thunk
> > >         .size   macro_protocol_id_show, .-macro_protocol_id_show
> > >
> > > Function version:
> > >
> > >         .type   extra_protocol_id_show, @function
> > > extra_protocol_id_show:
> > >         endbr64
> > > 1:      call    __fentry__
> > >         .section __mcount_loc, "a",@progbits
> > >         .quad 1b
> > >         .previous
> > >         pushq   %rbp    #
> > >         movq    %rdx, %rbp      # tmp96, buf
> > >         pushq   %rbx    #
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:47: {
> > >         movq    %rdi, %rbx      # tmp95, dev
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:50:   return sprintf(buf, "extra 0x%02x %c\n", gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id, *buf);
> > >         call    __sanitizer_cov_trace_pc        #
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:50:   return sprintf(buf, "extra 0x%02x %c\n", gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id, *buf);
> > >         movq    -32(%rbx), %rax # MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_8(D) + -40B].cport_desc, MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_8(D) + -40B].cport_desc
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:50:   return sprintf(buf, "extra 0x%02x %c\n", gbphy_dev->cport_desc->protocol_id, *buf);
> > >         movzbl  0(%rbp), %ecx   # *buf_9(D), *buf_9(D)
> > >         movq    %rbp, %rdi      # buf,
> > >         movq    $.LC19, %rsi    #,
> > >         movzbl  3(%rax), %edx   # _3->protocol_id, _3->protocol_id
> > >         call    sprintf #
> > > # drivers/staging/greybus/gbphy.c:51: }
> > >         movl    $13, %eax       #,
> > >         popq    %rbx    #
> > >         popq    %rbp    #
> > >         jmp     __x86_return_thunk
> > >         .size   extra_protocol_id_show, .-extra_protocol_id_show
> > >
> > > Both seem to access the memory directly.  Maybe the example is too simple,
> > > and the compiler is more likely to optimize aggressively?
> >
> > Nice, that shows that it is the same both ways as the compiler version
> > you are using is smart enough
> >
> > Which compiler and version is this?  Does it work the same for all of
> > the supported versions we have to support (i.e. really old gcc?)
> 
> gcc (Ubuntu 9.4.0-1ubuntu1~20.04.1) 9.4.0
> 
> I got a similar result for gcc-5:
> 
> macro_protocol_id_show:
> 1:      call    __fentry__
>         .section __mcount_loc, "a",@progbits
>         .quad 1b
>         .previous
>         movq    %rdx, %rax      # buf, buf
>         movq    -32(%rdi), %rdx # MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_1(D) + -40B].cport_desc, MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_1(D) + -40B].cport_desc
>         movq    $.LC19, %rsi    #,
>         movq    %rax, %rdi      # buf,
>         movzbl  3(%rdx), %ecx   # _3->protocol_id, D.44996
>         movzbl  (%rax), %edx    # *buf_6(D), D.44996
>         call    sprintf #
>         cltq
>         jmp     __x86_return_thunk
>         .size   macro_protocol_id_show, .-macro_protocol_id_show
>         .section        .text.unlikely
> .LCOLDE20:
>         .text
> .LHOTE20:
>         .section        .rodata.str1.1
> .LC21:
>         .string "extra 0x%02x %c\n"
>         .section        .text.unlikely
> .LCOLDB22:
>         .text
> .LHOTB22:
>         .p2align 6,,63
>         .globl  extra_protocol_id_show
>         .type   extra_protocol_id_show, @function
> extra_protocol_id_show:
> 1:      call    __fentry__
>         .section __mcount_loc, "a",@progbits
>         .quad 1b
>         .previous
>         movq    %rdx, %rax      # buf, buf
>         movzbl  (%rdx), %ecx    # *buf_3(D), D.45003
>         movq    -32(%rdi), %rdx # MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_2(D) + -40B].cport_desc, MEM[(struct gbphy_device *)dev_2(D) + -40B].cport_desc
>         movq    $.LC21, %rsi    #,
>         movq    %rax, %rdi      # buf,
>         movzbl  3(%rdx), %edx   # _6->protocol_id, D.45003
>         call    sprintf #
>         cltq
>         jmp     __x86_return_thunk
>         .size   extra_protocol_id_show, .-extra_protocol_id_show
>         .section        .text.unlikely

Ah nice!  Thanks for checking.

Ok, so it's not a performance issue at all either way, compilers are
smarter than we think :)

> > For the most part, sysfs files are not on any sort of "fast path" so a
> > function call is fine, but as I mentioned before, sometimes we are
> > forced to move calls to container_of() to container_of_const() and that
> > can not be an inline function, but must remain a macro :(
> 
> It seems that this is because there is not a unique return type, but not a
> performance issue?

Yes, container_of_const() will return a different type (const or not)
depending on what is passed into it.  This allows the "const-ness" of a
pointer to be kept across the call, while as container_of() will always
cast away the const which can be dangerous if you don't know what you
are doing.

thanks,

greg k-h