path: root/CODING_STYLE

Coding Style for the Xen Hypervisor
===================================

The Xen coding style described below is the coding style used by the
Xen hypervisor itself (xen/*) as well as various associated low-level
libraries (e.g. tools/libxc/*).

An exception is made for files which are imported from an external
source. In these cases the prevailing coding style of the upstream
source is generally used (commonly the Linux coding style).

Other parts of the code base may use other coding styles, sometimes
explicitly (e.g. tools/libxl/CODING_STYLE) but often implicitly (Linux
coding style is fairly common). In general you should copy the style
of the surrounding code. If you are unsure please ask.

SPDX
----

New files should start with a single-line SPDX comment to express the
license, e.g.:

/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */

See LICENSES/ for a list of licenses and SPDX tags currently used.

MISRA C
-------

The Xen Hypervisor follows some MISRA C coding rules. See
docs/misra/rules.rst for details.

Indentation
-----------

Indenting uses spaces, not tabs - in contrast to Linux.  An indent
level consists of four spaces.  Code within blocks is indented by one
extra indent level.  The enclosing braces of a block are indented the
same as the code _outside_ the block.  e.g.

void fun(void)
{
    /* One level of indent. */

    {
        /* A second level of indent. */
    }
}

Due to the behavior of GNU diffutils "diff -p", labels should be
indented by at least one blank.  Non-case labels inside switch() bodies
are preferred to be indented the same as the block's case labels.

White space
-----------

Space characters are used to spread out logical statements, such as in
the condition of an if or while.  Spaces are placed between the
keyword and the brackets surrounding the condition, between the
brackets and the condition itself, and around binary operators (except
the structure access operators, '.' and '->'). e.g.

if ( (wibble & wombat) == 42 )
{
    ...

There should be no trailing white space at the end of lines (including
after the opening /* of a comment block).

Line Length
-----------

Lines should be less than 80 characters in length.  Long lines should
be split at sensible places and the trailing portions indented.

User visible strings (e.g., printk() messages) should not be split so
they can searched for more easily.

Bracing
-------

Braces ('{' and '}') are usually placed on a line of their own, except
for
- the do/while loop
- the opening brace in definitions of enum, struct, and union
- the opening brace in initializers
- compound literals
This is unlike the Linux coding style and unlike K&R.  do/while loops
are one exception. e.g.:

if ( condition )
{
    /* Do stuff. */
}
else
{
    /* Other stuff. */
}

while ( condition )
{
    /* Do stuff. */
}

do {
    /* Do stuff. */
} while ( condition );

etc.

Braces should be omitted for blocks with a single statement. e.g.,

if ( condition )
    single_statement();

Types
-----

Use basic C types and C standard mandated typedef-s where possible (and
with preference in this order).  This in particular means to avoid u8,
u16, etc despite those types continuing to exist in our code base.
Fixed width types should only be used when a fixed width quantity is
meant (which for example may be a value read from or to be written to a
register).

Especially with pointer types, whenever the pointed to object is not
(supposed to be) modified, qualify the pointed to type with "const".

Comments
--------

Only C style /* ... */ comments are to be used.  C++ style // comments
should not be used.  Multi-word comments should begin with a capital
letter.  Comments containing a single sentence may end with a full
stop; comments containing several sentences must have a full stop
after each sentence.

Multi-line comment blocks should start and end with comment markers on
separate lines and each line should begin with a leading '*'.

/*
 * Example, multi-line comment block.
 *
 * Note beginning and end markers on separate lines and leading '*'.
 */

Emacs local variables
---------------------

A comment block containing local variables for emacs is permitted at
the end of files.  It should be:

/*
 * Local variables:
 * mode: C
 * c-file-style: "BSD"
 * c-basic-offset: 4
 * indent-tabs-mode: nil
 * End:
 */

Handling unexpected conditions
------------------------------

GUIDELINES:

Passing errors up the stack should be used when the caller is already
expecting to handle errors, and the state when the error was
discovered isn’t broken, or isn't too hard to fix.

domain_crash() should be used when passing errors up the stack is too
difficult, and/or when fixing up state of a guest is impractical, but
where fixing up the state of Xen will allow Xen to continue running.
This is particularly appropriate when the guest is exhibiting behavior
well-behaved guests shouldn't.

BUG_ON() should be used when you can’t pass errors up the stack, and
either continuing or crashing the guest would likely cause an
information leak or privilege escalation vulnerability.

ASSERT() IS NOT AN ERROR HANDLING MECHANISM.  ASSERT is a way to move
detection of a bug earlier in the programming cycle; it is a
more-noticeable printk.  It should only be added after one of the
other three error-handling mechanisms has been evaluated for
reliability and security.

RATIONALE:

It's frequently the case that code is written with the assumption that
certain conditions can never happen.  There are several possible
actions programmers can take in these situations:

* Programmers can simply not handle those cases in any way, other than
perhaps to write a comment documenting what the assumption is.

* Programmers can try to handle the case gracefully -- fixing up
in-progress state and returning an error to the user.

* Programmers can crash the guest.

* Programmers can use ASSERT(), which will cause the check to be
executed in DEBUG builds, and cause the hypervisor to crash if it's
violated

* Programmers can use BUG_ON(), which will cause the check to be
executed in both DEBUG and non-DEBUG builds, and cause the hypervisor
to crash if it's violated.

In selecting which response to use, we want to achieve several goals:

- To minimize risk of introducing security vulnerabilities,
  particularly as the code evolves over time

- To efficiently spend programmer time

- To detect violations of assumptions as early as possible

- To minimize the impact of bugs on production use cases

The guidelines above attempt to balance these:

- When the caller is expecting to handle errors, and there is no
broken state at the time the unexpected condition is discovered, or
when fixing the state is straightforward, then fixing up the state and
returning an error is the most robust thing to do.  However, if the
caller isn't expecting to handle errors, or if the state is difficult
to fix, then returning an error may require extensive refactoring,
which is not a good use of programmer time when they're certain that
this condition cannot occur.

- BUG_ON() will stop all hypervisor action immediately.  In situations
where continuing might allow an attacker to escalate privilege, a
BUG_ON() can change a privilege escalation or information leak into a
denial-of-service (an improvement).  But in situations where
continuing (say, returning an error) might be safe, then BUG_ON() can
change a benign failure into denial-of-service (a degradation).

- domain_crash() is similar to BUG_ON(), but with a more limited
effect: it stops that domain immediately.  In situations where
continuing might cause guest or hypervisor corruption, but destroying
the guest allows the hypervisor to continue, this can change a more
serious bug into a guest denial-of-service.  But in situations where
returning an error might be safe, then domain_crash() can change a
benign failure into a guest denial-of-service.

- ASSERT() will stop the hypervisor during development, but allow
hypervisor action to continue during production.  In situations where
continuing will at worst result in a denial-of-service, and at best
may have little effect other than perhaps quirky behavior, using an
ASSERT() will allow violation of assumptions to be detected as soon as
possible, while not causing undue degradation in production
hypervisors.  However, in situations where continuing could cause
privilege escalation or information leaks, using an ASSERT() can
introduce security vulnerabilities.

Note however that domain_crash() has its own traps: callers far up the
call stack may not realize that the domain is now dying as a result of
an innocuous-looking operation, particularly if somewhere on the
callstack between the initial function call and the failure, no error
is returned.  Using domain_crash() requires careful inspection and
documentation of the code to make sure all callers at the stack handle
a newly-dead domain gracefully.