Linus Torvalds and the Supposedly "Garbage Code"
7 hours ago
- #C Programming
- #Code Quality
- #Linux Kernel
- Linus Torvalds publicly dismissed a RISC-V code contribution as 'garbage code'.
- The discussion revolves around the make_u32_from_two_u16() helper function and its explicit code alternative.
- Linus's explicit code suggestion '(a << 16) + b' is critiqued for potential issues like missing type casts and high bit pollution.
- A better approach is proposed: using bitwise OR (|) and type casts for clarity and correctness.
- The importance of clear variable names (e.g., 'high' and 'low') is highlighted.
- A safer and reusable C macro is suggested to avoid bugs in repeated explicit code.
- For C++, an inline helper function with noexcept and constexpr is recommended for better safety and performance.