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  • doc/rob_thesis/ctordtor.tex

    r7493339 r93afb96  
    22\chapter{Constructors and Destructors}
    33%======================================================================
     4
     5% TODO: discuss move semantics; they haven't been implemented, but could be. Currently looking at alternative models. (future work)
    46
    57% TODO: as an experiment, implement Andrei Alexandrescu's ScopeGuard http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/generic-change-the-way-you-write-excepti/184403758?pgno=2
     
    551553% // and so on
    552554
     555
     556
     557% TODO: talk somewhere about compound literals?
     558
    553559Since \CFA is a true systems language, it does not provide a garbage collector.
    554 As well, \CFA is not an object-oriented programming language, i.e., structures cannot have routine members.
     560As well, \CFA is not an object-oriented programming language, i.e. structures cannot have routine members.
    555561Nevertheless, one important goal is to reduce programming complexity and increase safety.
    556562To that end, \CFA provides support for implicit pre/post-execution of routines for objects, via constructors and destructors.
     563
     564% TODO: this is old. remove or refactor
     565% Manual resource management is difficult.
     566% Part of the difficulty results from not having any guarantees about the current state of an object.
     567% Objects can be internally composed of pointers that may reference resources which may or may not need to be manually released, and keeping track of that state for each object can be difficult for the end user.
     568
     569% Constructors and destructors provide a mechanism to bookend the lifetime of an object, allowing the designer of a type to establish invariants for objects of that type.
     570% Constructors guarantee that object initialization code is run before the object can be used, while destructors provide a mechanism that is guaranteed to be run immediately before an object's lifetime ends.
     571% Constructors and destructors can help to simplify resource management when used in a disciplined way.
     572% In particular, when all resources are acquired in a constructor, and all resources are released in a destructor, no resource leaks are possible.
     573% This pattern is a popular idiom in several languages, such as \CC, known as RAII (Resource Acquisition Is Initialization).
    557574
    558575This chapter details the design of constructors and destructors in \CFA, along with their current implementation in the translator.
     
    575592Next, @x@ is assigned the value of @y@.
    576593In the last line, @z@ is implicitly initialized to 0 since it is marked @static@.
    577 The key difference between assignment and initialization being that assignment occurs on a live object (i.e., an object that contains data).
     594The key difference between assignment and initialization being that assignment occurs on a live object (i.e. an object that contains data).
    578595It is important to note that this means @x@ could have been used uninitialized prior to being assigned, while @y@ could not be used uninitialized.
    579 Use of uninitialized variables yields undefined behaviour, which is a common source of errors in C programs.
    580 
    581 Declaration initialization is insufficient, because it permits uninitialized variables to exist and because it does not allow for the insertion of arbitrary code before a variable is live.
    582 Many C compilers give good warnings for uninitialized variables most of the time, but they cannot in all cases.
    583 \begin{cfacode}
    584 int f(int *);  // output parameter: never reads, only writes
    585 int g(int *);  // input parameter: never writes, only reads,
    586                // so requires initialized variable
     596Use of uninitialized variables yields undefined behaviour, which is a common source of errors in C programs. % TODO: *citation*
     597
     598Declaration initialization is insufficient, because it permits uninitialized variables to exist and because it does not allow for the insertion of arbitrary code before the variable is live.
     599Many C compilers give good warnings most of the time, but they cannot in all cases.
     600\begin{cfacode}
     601int f(int *);  // never reads the parameter, only writes
     602int g(int *);  // reads the parameter - expects an initialized variable
    587603
    588604int x, y;
    589605f(&x);  // okay - only writes to x
    590 g(&y);  // uses y uninitialized
    591 \end{cfacode}
    592 Other languages are able to give errors in the case of uninitialized variable use, but due to backwards compatibility concerns, this is not the case in \CFA.
     606g(&y);  // will use y uninitialized
     607\end{cfacode}
     608Other languages are able to give errors in the case of uninitialized variable use, but due to backwards compatibility concerns, this cannot be the case in \CFA.
    593609
    594610In C, constructors and destructors are often mimicked by providing routines that create and teardown objects, where the teardown function is typically only necessary if the type modifies the execution environment.
     
    598614};
    599615struct array_int create_array(int sz) {
    600   return (struct array_int) { calloc(sizeof(int)*sz) };
     616  return (struct array_int) { malloc(sizeof(int)*sz) };
    601617}
    602618void destroy_rh(struct resource_holder * rh) {
     
    623639
    624640In \CFA, a constructor is a function with the name @?{}@.
    625 Like other operators in \CFA, the name represents the syntax used to call the constructor, e.g., @struct S = { ... };@.
    626641Every constructor must have a return type of @void@ and at least one parameter, the first of which is colloquially referred to as the \emph{this} parameter, as in many object-oriented programming-languages (however, a programmer can give it an arbitrary name).
    627642The @this@ parameter must have a pointer type, whose base type is the type of object that the function constructs.
     
    640655
    641656In C, if the user creates an @Array@ object, the fields @data@ and @len@ are uninitialized, unless an explicit initializer list is present.
    642 It is the user's responsibility to remember to initialize both of the fields to sensible values, since there are no implicit checks for invalid values or reasonable defaults.
     657It is the user's responsibility to remember to initialize both of the fields to sensible values.
    643658In \CFA, the user can define a constructor to handle initialization of @Array@ objects.
    644659
     
    656671This constructor initializes @x@ so that its @length@ field has the value 10, and its @data@ field holds a pointer to a block of memory large enough to hold 10 @int@s, and sets the value of each element of the array to 0.
    657672This particular form of constructor is called the \emph{default constructor}, because it is called on an object defined without an initializer.
    658 In other words, a default constructor is a constructor that takes a single argument: the @this@ parameter.
     673In other words, a default constructor is a constructor that takes a single argument, the @this@ parameter.
    659674
    660675In \CFA, a destructor is a function much like a constructor, except that its name is \lstinline!^?{}!.
     
    665680}
    666681\end{cfacode}
    667 The destructor is automatically called at deallocation for all objects of type @Array@.
    668 Hence, the memory associated with an @Array@ is automatically freed when the object's lifetime ends.
     682Since the destructor is automatically called at deallocation for all objects of type @Array@, the memory associated with an @Array@ is automatically freed when the object's lifetime ends.
    669683The exact guarantees made by \CFA with respect to the calling of destructors are discussed in section \ref{sub:implicit_dtor}.
    670684
     
    677691\end{cfacode}
    678692By the previous definition of the default constructor for @Array@, @x@ and @y@ are initialized to valid arrays of length 10 after their respective definitions.
    679 On line 2, @z@ is initialized with the value of @x@, while on line 3, @y@ is assigned the value of @x@.
     693On line 3, @z@ is initialized with the value of @x@, while on line @4@, @y@ is assigned the value of @x@.
    680694The key distinction between initialization and assignment is that a value to be initialized does not hold any meaningful values, whereas an object to be assigned might.
    681695In particular, these cases cannot be handled the same way because in the former case @z@ does not currently own an array, while @y@ does.
     
    698712The first function is called a \emph{copy constructor}, because it constructs its argument by copying the values from another object of the same type.
    699713The second function is the standard copy-assignment operator.
    700 The four functions (default constructor, destructor, copy constructor, and assignment operator) are special in that they safely control the state of most objects.
     714These four functions are special in that they control the state of most objects.
    701715
    702716It is possible to define a constructor that takes any combination of parameters to provide additional initialization options.
     
    715729Array x, y = { 20, 0xdeadbeef }, z = y;
    716730\end{cfacode}
    717 
    718731In \CFA, constructor calls look just like C initializers, which allows them to be inserted into legacy C code with minimal code changes, and also provides a very simple syntax that veteran C programmers are familiar with.
    719732One downside of reusing C initialization syntax is that it isn't possible to determine whether an object is constructed just by looking at its declaration, since that requires knowledge of whether the type is managed at that point.
     
    735748Destructors are implicitly called in reverse declaration-order so that objects with dependencies are destructed before the objects they are dependent on.
    736749
    737 \subsection{Calling Syntax}
    738 \label{sub:syntax}
     750\subsection{Syntax}
     751\label{sub:syntax} % TODO: finish this section
    739752There are several ways to construct an object in \CFA.
    740753As previously introduced, every variable is automatically constructed at its definition, which is the most natural way to construct an object.
     
    760773A * y = malloc();  // copy construct: ?{}(&y, malloc())
    761774
    762 ?{}(&x);    // explicit construct x, second construction
    763 ?{}(y, x);  // explit construct y from x, second construction
    764 ^?{}(&x);   // explicit destroy x, in different order
     775?{}(&x);    // explicit construct x
     776?{}(y, x);  // explit construct y from x
     777^?{}(&x);   // explicit destroy x
    765778^?{}(y);    // explicit destroy y
    766779
     
    768781// implicit ^?{}(&x);
    769782\end{cfacode}
    770 Calling a constructor or destructor directly is a flexible feature that allows complete control over the management of storage.
     783Calling a constructor or destructor directly is a flexible feature that allows complete control over the management of a piece of storage.
    771784In particular, constructors double as a placement syntax.
    772785\begin{cfacode}
     
    791804Finally, constructors and destructors support \emph{operator syntax}.
    792805Like other operators in \CFA, the function name mirrors the use-case, in that the first $N$ arguments fill in the place of the question mark.
    793 This syntactic form is similar to the new initialization syntax in \CCeleven, except that it is used in expression contexts, rather than declaration contexts.
    794806\begin{cfacode}
    795807struct A { ... };
     
    810822Destructor operator syntax is actually an statement, and requires parentheses for symmetry with constructor syntax.
    811823
    812 One of these three syntactic forms should appeal to either C or \CC programmers using \CFA.
    813 
    814824\subsection{Function Generation}
    815825In \CFA, every type is defined to have the core set of four functions described previously.
     
    823833There are several options for user-defined types: structures, unions, and enumerations.
    824834To aid in ease of use, the standard set of four functions is automatically generated for a user-defined type after its definition is completed.
    825 By auto-generating these functions, it is ensured that legacy C code continues to work correctly in every context where \CFA expects these functions to exist, since they are generated for every complete type.
     835By auto-generating these functions, it is ensured that legacy C code will continue to work correctly in every context where \CFA expects these functions to exist, since they are generated for every complete type.
    826836
    827837The generated functions for enumerations are the simplest.
    828838Since enumerations in C are essentially just another integral type, the generated functions behave in the same way that the builtin functions for the basic types work.
     839% TODO: examples for enums
    829840For example, given the enumeration
    830841\begin{cfacode}
     
    849860\end{cfacode}
    850861In the future, \CFA will introduce strongly-typed enumerations, like those in \CC.
    851 The existing generated routines are sufficient to express this restriction, since they are currently set up to take in values of that enumeration type.
     862The existing generated routines will be sufficient to express this restriction, since they are currently set up to take in values of that enumeration type.
    852863Changes related to this feature only need to affect the expression resolution phase, where more strict rules will be applied to prevent implicit conversions from integral types to enumeration types, but should continue to permit conversions from enumeration types to @int@.
    853 In this way, it is still possible to add an @int@ to an enumeration, but the resulting value is an @int@, meaning it cannot be reassigned to an enumeration without a cast.
     864In this way, it will still be possible to add an @int@ to an enumeration, but the resulting value will be an @int@, meaning that it won't be possible to reassign the value into an enumeration without a cast.
    854865
    855866For structures, the situation is more complicated.
    856 Given a structure @S@ with members @M$_0$@, @M$_1$@, ... @M$_{N-1}$@, each function @f@ in the standard set calls \lstinline{f(s->M$_i$, ...)} for each @$i$@.
    857 That is, a default constructor for @S@ default constructs the members of @S@, the copy constructor copy constructs them, and so on.
    858 For example, given the structure definition
     867For a structure @S@ with members @M$_0$@, @M$_1$@, ... @M$_{N-1}$@, each function @f@ in the standard set calls \lstinline{f(s->M$_i$, ...)} for each @$i$@.
     868That is, a default constructor for @S@ default constructs the members of @S@, the copy constructor with copy construct them, and so on.
     869For example given the struct definition
    859870\begin{cfacode}
    860871struct A {
     
    882893}
    883894\end{cfacode}
    884 It is important to note that the destructors are called in reverse declaration order to prevent conflicts in the event there are dependencies among members.
     895It is important to note that the destructors are called in reverse declaration order to resolve conflicts in the event there are dependencies among members.
    885896
    886897In addition to the standard set, a set of \emph{field constructors} is also generated for structures.
    887 The field constructors are constructors that consume a prefix of the structure's member-list.
     898The field constructors are constructors that consume a prefix of the struct's member list.
    888899That is, $N$ constructors are built of the form @void ?{}(S *, T$_{\text{M}_0}$)@, @void ?{}(S *, T$_{\text{M}_0}$, T$_{\text{M}_1}$)@, ..., @void ?{}(S *, T$_{\text{M}_0}$, T$_{\text{M}_1}$, ..., T$_{\text{M}_{N-1}}$)@, where members are copy constructed if they have a corresponding positional argument and are default constructed otherwise.
    889 The addition of field constructors allows structures in \CFA to be used naturally in the same ways as used in C (i.e., to initialize any prefix of the structure), e.g., @A a0 = { b }, a1 = { b, c }@.
     900The addition of field constructors allows structs in \CFA to be used naturally in the same ways that they could be used in C (i.e. to initialize any prefix of the struct), e.g., @A a0 = { b }, a1 = { b, c }@.
    890901Extending the previous example, the following constructors are implicitly generated for @A@.
    891902\begin{cfacode}
     
    900911\end{cfacode}
    901912
    902 For unions, the default constructor and destructor do nothing, as it is not obvious which member, if any, should be constructed.
     913For unions, the default constructor and destructor do nothing, as it is not obvious which member if any should be constructed.
    903914For copy constructor and assignment operations, a bitwise @memcpy@ is applied.
    904915In standard C, a union can also be initialized using a value of the same type as its first member, and so a corresponding field constructor is generated to perform a bitwise @memcpy@ of the object.
     
    936947
    937948% This feature works in the \CFA model, since constructors are simply special functions and can be called explicitly, unlike in \CC. % this sentence isn't really true => placement new
    938 In \CCeleven, unions may have managed members, with the caveat that if there are any members with a user-defined operation, then that operation is not implicitly defined, forcing the user to define the operation if necessary.
     949In \CCeleven, this restriction has been loosened to allow unions with managed members, with the caveat that any if there are any members with a user-defined operation, then that operation is not implicitly defined, forcing the user to define the operation if necessary.
    939950This restriction could easily be added into \CFA once \emph{deleted} functions are added.
    940951
     
    959970Here, @&s@ and @&s2@ are cast to unqualified pointer types.
    960971This mechanism allows the same constructors and destructors to be used for qualified objects as for unqualified objects.
    961 This applies only to implicitly generated constructor calls.
    962 Hence, explicitly re-initializing qualified objects with a constructor requires an explicit cast.
    963 
    964 As discussed in Section \ref{sub:c_background}, compound literals create unnamed objects.
    965 This mechanism can continue to be used seamlessly in \CFA with managed types to create temporary objects.
    966 The object created by a compound literal is constructed using the provided brace-enclosed initializer-list, and is destructed at the end of the scope it is used in.
    967 For example,
    968 \begin{cfacode}
    969 struct A { int x; };
    970 void ?{}(A *, int, int);
    971 {
    972   int x = (A){ 10, 20 }.x;
    973 }
    974 \end{cfacode}
    975 is equivalent to
    976 \begin{cfacode}
    977 struct A { int x, y; };
    978 void ?{}(A *, int, int);
    979 {
    980   A _tmp;
    981   ?{}(&_tmp, 10, 20);
    982   int x = _tmp.x;
    983   ^?{}(&tmp);
    984 }
    985 \end{cfacode}
     972Since this applies only to implicitly generated constructor calls, the language does not allow qualified objects to be re-initialized with a constructor without an explicit cast.
    986973
    987974Unlike \CC, \CFA provides an escape hatch that allows a user to decide at an object's definition whether it should be managed or not.
     
    997984A a2 @= { 0 };  // unmanaged
    998985\end{cfacode}
    999 In this example, @a1@ is a managed object, and thus is default constructed and destructed at the start/end of @a1@'s lifetime, while @a2@ is an unmanaged object and is not implicitly constructed or destructed.
    1000 Instead, @a2->x@ is initialized to @0@ as if it were a C object, because of the explicit initializer.
     986In this example, @a1@ is a managed object, and thus is default constructed and destructed at the end of @a1@'s lifetime, while @a2@ is an unmanaged object and is not implicitly constructed or destructed.
     987Instead, @a2->x@ is initialized to @0@ as if it were a C object, due to the explicit initializer.
     988Existing constructors are ignored when \ateq is used, so that any valid C initializer is able to initialize the object.
    1001989
    1002990In addition to freedom, \ateq provides a simple path to migrating legacy C code to Cforall, in that objects can be moved from C-style initialization to \CFA gradually and individually.
     
    1004992It is recommended that most objects be managed by sensible constructors and destructors, except where absolutely necessary.
    1005993
    1006 When a user declares any constructor or destructor, the corresponding intrinsic/generated function and all field constructors for that type are hidden, so that they are not found during expression resolution until the user-defined function goes out of scope.
    1007 Furthermore, if the user declares any constructor, then the intrinsic/generated default constructor is also hidden, precluding default construction.
    1008 These semantics closely mirror the rule for implicit declaration of constructors in \CC, wherein the default constructor is implicitly declared if there is no user-declared constructor \cite[p.~186]{ANSI98:C++}.
     994When the user declares any constructor or destructor, the corresponding intrinsic/generated function and all field constructors for that type are hidden, so that they will not be found during expression resolution unless the user-defined function goes out of scope.
     995Furthermore, if the user declares any constructor, then the intrinsic/generated default constructor is also hidden, making it so that objects of a type may not be default constructable.
     996This closely mirrors the rule for implicit declaration of constructors in \CC, wherein the default constructor is implicitly declared if there is no user-declared constructor. % TODO: cite C++98 page 186??
    1009997\begin{cfacode}
    1010998struct S { int x, y; };
     
    10131001  S s0, s1 = { 0 }, s2 = { 0, 2 }, s3 = s2;  // okay
    10141002  {
    1015     void ?{}(S * s, int i) { s->x = i*2; } // locally hide autogen constructors
     1003    void ?{}(S * s, int i) { s->x = i*2; }
    10161004    S s4;  // error
    10171005    S s5 = { 3 };  // okay
     
    10701058} // z, y, w implicitly destructed, in this order
    10711059\end{cfacode}
    1072 If at any point, the @this@ parameter is passed directly as the target of another constructor, then it is assumed that constructor handles the initialization of all of the object's members and no implicit constructor calls are added. % TODO: this is basically always wrong. if anything, I should check that such a constructor does not initialize any members, otherwise it'll always initialize the member twice (once locally, once by the called constructor). This might be okay in some situations, but it deserves a warning at the very least.
     1060If at any point, the @this@ parameter is passed directly as the target of another constructor, then it is assumed that constructor handles the initialization of all of the object's members and no implicit constructor calls are added. % TODO: confirm that this is correct. It might be possible to get subtle errors if you initialize some members then call another constructor... -- in fact, this is basically always wrong. if anything, I should check that such a constructor does not initialize any members, otherwise it'll always initialize the member twice (once locally, once by the called constructor).
    10731061To override this rule, \ateq can be used to force the translator to trust the programmer's discretion.
    10741062This form of \ateq is not yet implemented.
     
    10761064Despite great effort, some forms of C syntax do not work well with constructors in \CFA.
    10771065In particular, constructor calls cannot contain designations (see \ref{sub:c_background}), since this is equivalent to allowing designations on the arguments to arbitrary function calls.
     1066In C, function prototypes are permitted to have arbitrary parameter names, including no names at all, which may have no connection to the actual names used at function definition.
     1067Furthermore, a function prototype can be repeated an arbitrary number of times, each time using different names.
    10781068\begin{cfacode}
    10791069// all legal forward declarations in C
     
    10861076f(b:10, a:20, c:30);  // which parameter is which?
    10871077\end{cfacode}
    1088 In C, function prototypes are permitted to have arbitrary parameter names, including no names at all, which may have no connection to the actual names used at function definition.
    1089 Furthermore, a function prototype can be repeated an arbitrary number of times, each time using different names.
    10901078As a result, it was decided that any attempt to resolve designated function calls with C's function prototype rules would be brittle, and thus it is not sensible to allow designations in constructor calls.
    1091 
    1092 In addition, constructor calls do not support unnamed nesting.
    1093 \begin{cfacode}
    1094 struct B { int x; };
    1095 struct C { int y; };
    1096 struct A { B b; C c; };
    1097 void ?{}(A *, B);
    1098 void ?{}(A *, C);
    1099 
    1100 A a = {
    1101   { 10 },  // construct B? - invalid
    1102 };
    1103 \end{cfacode}
    1104 In C, nesting initializers means that the programmer intends to initialize subobjects with the nested initializers.
    1105 The reason for this omission is to both simplify the mental model for using constructors, and to make initialization simpler for the expression resolver.
    1106 If this were allowed, it would be necessary for the expression resolver to decide whether each argument to the constructor call could initialize to some argument in one of the available constructors, making the problem highly recursive and potentially much more expensive.
    1107 That is, in the previous example the line marked as an error could mean construct using @?{}(A *, B)@ or with @?{}(A *, C)@, since the inner initializer @{ 10 }@ could be taken as an intermediate object of type @B@ or @C@.
    1108 In practice, however, there could be many objects that can be constructed from a given @int@ (or, indeed, any arbitrary parameter list), and thus a complete solution to this problem would require fully exploring all possibilities.
    1109 
    1110 More precisely, constructor calls cannot have a nesting depth greater than the number of array components in the type of the initialized object, plus one.
     1079% Many other languages do allow named arguments, such as Python and Scala, but they do not allow multiple arbitrarily named forward declarations of a function.
     1080
     1081In addition, constructor calls cannot have a nesting depth greater than the number of array components in the type of the initialized object, plus one.
    11111082For example,
    11121083\begin{cfacode}
     
    11271098% TODO: in CFA if the array dimension is empty, no object constructors are added -- need to fix this.
    11281099The body of @A@ has been omitted, since only the constructor interfaces are important.
    1129 
     1100In C, having a greater nesting depth means that the programmer intends to initialize subobjects with the nested initializer.
     1101The reason for this omission is to both simplify the mental model for using constructors, and to make initialization simpler for the expression resolver.
     1102If this were allowed, it would be necessary for the expression resolver to decide whether each argument to the constructor call could initialize to some argument in one of the available constructors, making the problem highly recursive and potentially much more expensive.
     1103That is, in the previous example the line marked as an error could mean construct using @?{}(A *, A, A)@, since the inner initializer @{ 11 }@ could be taken as an intermediate object of type @A@ constructed with @?{}(A *, int)@.
     1104In practice, however, there could be many objects that can be constructed from a given @int@ (or, indeed, any arbitrary parameter list), and thus a complete solution to this problem would require fully exploring all possibilities.
    11301105It should be noted that unmanaged objects can still make use of designations and nested initializers in \CFA.
    1131 It is simple to overcome this limitation for managed objects by making use of compound literals, so that the arguments to the constructor call are explicitly typed.
    11321106
    11331107\subsection{Implicit Destructors}
     
    11561130\end{cfacode}
    11571131
     1132%% having this feels excessive, but it's here if necessary
     1133% This procedure generates the following code.
     1134% \begin{cfacode}
     1135% void f(int i){
     1136%   struct A x;
     1137%   ?{}(&x);
     1138%   {
     1139%     struct A y;
     1140%     ?{}(&y);
     1141%     {
     1142%       struct A z;
     1143%       ?{}(&z);
     1144%       {
     1145%         if ((i==0)!=0) {
     1146%           ^?{}(&z);
     1147%           ^?{}(&y);
     1148%           ^?{}(&x);
     1149%           return;
     1150%         }
     1151%       }
     1152%       if (((i==1)!=0) {
     1153%           ^?{}(&z);
     1154%           ^?{}(&y);
     1155%           ^?{}(&x);
     1156%           return ;
     1157%       }
     1158%       ^?{}(&z);
     1159%     }
     1160
     1161%     if ((i==2)!=0) {
     1162%       ^?{}(&y);
     1163%       ^?{}(&x);
     1164%       return;
     1165%     }
     1166%     ^?{}(&y);
     1167%   }
     1168
     1169%   ^?{}(&x);
     1170% }
     1171% \end{cfacode}
     1172
    11581173The next example illustrates the use of simple continue and break statements and the manner that they interact with implicit destructors.
    11591174\begin{cfacode}
     
    11681183\end{cfacode}
    11691184Since a destructor call is automatically inserted at the end of the block, nothing special needs to happen to destruct @x@ in the case where control reaches the end of the loop.
    1170 In the case where @i@ is @2@, the continue statement runs the loop update expression and attempts to begin the next iteration of the loop.
     1185In the case where @i@ is @2@, the continue statement runs the loop update expression and attemps to begin the next iteration of the loop.
    11711186Since continue is a C statement, which does not understand destructors, a destructor call is added just before the continue statement to ensure that @x@ is destructed.
    11721187When @i@ is @3@, the break statement moves control to just past the end of the loop.
     
    11781193L1: for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    11791194  A x;
    1180   for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
     1195  L2: for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
    11811196    A y;
    1182     if (i == 1) {
     1197    if (j == 0) {
     1198      continue;    // destruct y
     1199    } else if (j == 1) {
     1200      break;       // destruct y
     1201    } else if (i == 1) {
    11831202      continue L1; // destruct y
    11841203    } else if (i == 2) {
     
    11901209The statement @continue L1@ begins the next iteration of the outer for-loop.
    11911210Since the semantics of continue require the loop update expression to execute, control branches to the \emph{end} of the outer for loop, meaning that the block destructor for @x@ can be reused, and it is only necessary to generate the destructor for @y@.
    1192 % TODO: "why not do this all the time? fix or justify"
    11931211Break, on the other hand, requires jumping out of the loop, so the destructors for both @x@ and @y@ are generated and inserted before the @break L1@ statement.
    11941212
     
    12591277Exempt from these rules are intrinsic and builtin functions.
    12601278It should be noted that unmanaged objects are subject to copy constructor calls when passed as arguments to a function or when returned from a function, since they are not the \emph{target} of the copy constructor call.
    1261 That is, since the parameter is not marked as an unmanaged object using \ateq, it will be copy constructed if it is returned by value or passed as an argument to another function, so to guarantee consistent behaviour, unmanaged objects must be copy constructed when passed as arguments.
    12621279This is an important detail to bear in mind when using unmanaged objects, and could produce unexpected results when mixed with objects that are explicitly constructed.
    12631280\begin{cfacode}
     
    12671284void ^?{}(A *);
    12681285
    1269 A identity(A x) { // pass by value => need local copy
    1270   return x;       // return by value => make call-site copy
     1286A f(A x) {
     1287  return x;
    12711288}
    12721289
    12731290A y, z @= {};
    1274 identity(y);  // copy construct y into x
    1275 identity(z);  // copy construct z into x
     1291identity(y);
     1292identity(z);
    12761293\end{cfacode}
    12771294Note that @z@ is copy constructed into a temporary variable to be passed as an argument, which is also destructed after the call.
     1295A special syntactic form, such as a variant of \ateq, could be implemented to specify at the call site that an argument should not be copy constructed, to regain some control for the C programmer.
    12781296
    12791297This generates the following
    12801298\begin{cfacode}
    12811299struct A f(struct A x){
    1282   struct A _retval_f;    // return value
    1283   ?{}((&_retval_f), x);  // copy construct return value
     1300  struct A _retval_f;
     1301  ?{}((&_retval_f), x);
    12841302  return _retval_f;
    12851303}
    12861304
    12871305struct A y;
    1288 ?{}(&y);                 // default construct
    1289 struct A z = { 0 };      // C default
    1290 
    1291 struct A _tmp_cp1;       // argument 1
    1292 struct A _tmp_cp_ret0;   // return value
    1293 _tmp_cp_ret0=f(
    1294   (?{}(&_tmp_cp1, y) , _tmp_cp1)  // argument is a comma expression
    1295 ), _tmp_cp_ret0;         // return value for cascading
    1296 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp_ret0);     // destruct return value
    1297 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp1);         // destruct argument 1
    1298 
    1299 struct A _tmp_cp2;       // argument 1
    1300 struct A _tmp_cp_ret1;   // return value
    1301 _tmp_cp_ret1=f(
    1302   (?{}(&_tmp_cp2, z), _tmp_cp2)  // argument is a common expression
    1303 ), _tmp_cp_ret1;         // return value for cascading
    1304 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp_ret1);     // destruct return value
    1305 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp2);         // destruct argument 1
     1306?{}(&y);
     1307struct A z = { 0 };
     1308
     1309struct A _tmp_cp1;     // argument 1
     1310struct A _tmp_cp_ret0; // return value
     1311_tmp_cp_ret0=f((?{}(&_tmp_cp1, y) , _tmp_cp1)), _tmp_cp_ret0;
     1312^?{}(&_tmp_cp_ret0);   // return value
     1313^?{}(&_tmp_cp1);       // argument 1
     1314
     1315struct A _tmp_cp2;     // argument 1
     1316struct A _tmp_cp_ret1; // return value
     1317_tmp_cp_ret1=f((?{}(&_tmp_cp2, z), _tmp_cp2)), _tmp_cp_ret1;
     1318^?{}(&_tmp_cp_ret1);   // return value
     1319^?{}(&_tmp_cp2);       // argument 1
    13061320^?{}(&y);
    13071321\end{cfacode}
    1308 
    1309 A special syntactic form, such as a variant of \ateq, can be implemented to specify at the call site that an argument should not be copy constructed, to regain some control for the C programmer.
    1310 \begin{cfacode}
    1311 identity(z@);  // do not copy construct argument
    1312                // - will copy construct/destruct return value
    1313 A@ identity_nocopy(A @ x) {  // argument not copy constructed or destructed
    1314   return x;  // not copy constructed
    1315              // return type marked @ => not destructed
    1316 }
    1317 \end{cfacode}
    1318 It should be noted that reference types will allow specifying that a value does not need to be copied, however reference types do not provide a means of preventing implicit copy construction from uses of the reference, so the problem is still present when passing or returning the reference by value.
    13191322
    13201323A known issue with this implementation is that the return value of a function is not guaranteed to have the same address for its entire lifetime.
    13211324Specifically, since @_retval_f@ is allocated and constructed in @f@ then returned by value, the internal data is bitwise copied into the caller's stack frame.
    13221325This approach works out most of the time, because typically destructors need to only access the fields of the object and recursively destroy.
    1323 It is currently the case that constructors and destructors that use the @this@ pointer as a unique identifier to store data externally do not work correctly for return value objects.
    1324 Thus, it is not safe to rely on an object's @this@ pointer to remain constant throughout execution of the program.
     1326It is currently the case that constructors and destructors which use the @this@ pointer as a unique identifier to store data externally will not work correctly for return value objects.
     1327Thus is it not safe to rely on an object's @this@ pointer to remain constant throughout execution of the program.
    13251328\begin{cfacode}
    13261329A * external_data[32];
     
    13381341  }
    13391342}
    1340 
    1341 A makeA() {
    1342   A x;  // stores &x in external_data
    1343   return x;
    1344 }
    1345 makeA();  // return temporary has a different address than x
    1346 // equivalent to:
    1347 //   A _tmp;
    1348 //   _tmp = makeA(), _tmp;
    1349 //   ^?{}(&_tmp);
    13501343\end{cfacode}
    13511344In the above example, a global array of pointers is used to keep track of all of the allocated @A@ objects.
    1352 Due to copying on return, the current object being destructed does not exist in the array if an @A@ object is ever returned by value from a function.
    1353 
    1354 This problem could be solved in the translator by changing the function signatures so that the return value is moved into the parameter list.
     1345Due to copying on return, the current object being destructed will not exist in the array if an @A@ object is ever returned by value from a function.
     1346
     1347This problem could be solved in the translator by mutating the function signatures so that the return value is moved into the parameter list.
    13551348For example, the translator could restructure the code like so
    13561349\begin{cfacode}
     
    13701363\end{cfacode}
    13711364This transformation provides @f@ with the address of the return variable so that it can be constructed into directly.
    1372 It is worth pointing out that this kind of signature rewriting already occurs in polymorphic functions that return by value, as discussed in \cite{Bilson03}.
     1365It is worth pointing out that this kind of signature rewriting already occurs in polymorphic functions which return by value, as discussed in \cite{Bilson03}.
    13731366A key difference in this case is that every function would need to be rewritten like this, since types can switch between managed and unmanaged at different scope levels, e.g.
    13741367\begin{cfacode}
    13751368struct A { int v; };
    1376 A x; // unmanaged, since only trivial constructors are available
     1369A x; // unmanaged
    13771370{
    13781371  void ?{}(A * a) { ... }
     
    13821375A z; // unmanaged
    13831376\end{cfacode}
    1384 Hence there is not enough information to determine at function declaration whether a type is managed or not, and thus it is the case that all signatures have to be rewritten to account for possible copy constructor and destructor calls.
     1377Hence there is not enough information to determine at function declaration to determine whether a type is managed or not, and thus it is the case that all signatures have to be rewritten to account for possible copy constructor and destructor calls.
    13851378Even with this change, it would still be possible to declare backwards compatible function prototypes with an @extern "C"@ block, which allows for the definition of C-compatible functions within \CFA code, however this would require actual changes to the way code inside of an @extern "C"@ function is generated as compared with normal code generation.
    1386 Furthermore, it is not possible to overload C functions, so using @extern "C"@ to declare functions is of limited use.
    1387 
    1388 It would be possible to regain some control by adding an attribute to structs that specifies whether they can be managed or not (perhaps \emph{manageable} or \emph{unmanageable}), and to emit an error in the case that a constructor or destructor is declared for an unmanageable type.
     1379Furthermore, it isn't possible to overload C functions, so using @extern "C"@ to declare functions is of limited use.
     1380
     1381It would be possible to regain some control by adding an attribute to structs which specifies whether they can be managed or not (perhaps \emph{manageable} or \emph{unmanageable}), and to emit an error in the case that a constructor or destructor is declared for an unmanageable type.
    13891382Ideally, structs should be manageable by default, since otherwise the default case becomes more verbose.
    13901383This means that in general, function signatures would have to be rewritten, and in a select few cases the signatures would not be rewritten.
     
    14151408\section{Implementation}
    14161409\subsection{Array Initialization}
    1417 Arrays are a special case in the C type-system.
     1410Arrays are a special case in the C type system.
    14181411C arrays do not carry around their size, making it impossible to write a standalone \CFA function that constructs or destructs an array while maintaining the standard interface for constructors and destructors.
    14191412Instead, \CFA defines the initialization and destruction of an array recursively.
     
    15321525By default, objects within a translation unit are constructed in declaration order, and destructed in the reverse order.
    15331526The default order of construction of objects amongst translation units is unspecified.
     1527% TODO: not yet implemented, but g++ provides attribute init_priority, which allows specifying the order of global construction on a per object basis
     1528%   https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/C_002b_002b-Attributes.html#C_002b_002b-Attributes
     1529% suggestion: implement this in CFA by picking objects with a specified priority and pulling them into their own init functions (could even group them by priority level -> map<int, list<ObjectDecl*>>) and pull init_priority forward into constructor and destructor attributes with the same priority level
    15341530It is, however, guaranteed that any global objects in the standard library are initialized prior to the initialization of any object in the user program.
    15351531
    1536 This feature is implemented in the \CFA translator by grouping every global constructor call into a function with the GCC attribute \emph{constructor}, which performs most of the heavy lifting. % TODO: CITE: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Common-Function-Attributes.html#Common-Function-Attributes
     1532This feature is implemented in the \CFA translator by grouping every global constructor call into a function with the GCC attribute \emph{constructor}, which performs most of the heavy lifting. % CITE: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Common-Function-Attributes.html#Common-Function-Attributes
    15371533A similar function is generated with the \emph{destructor} attribute, which handles all global destructor calls.
    15381534At the time of writing, initialization routines in the library are specified with priority \emph{101}, which is the highest priority level that GCC allows, whereas initialization routines in the user's code are implicitly given the default priority level, which ensures they have a lower priority than any code with a specified priority level.
     
    15631559\end{cfacode}
    15641560
    1565 %   https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/C_002b_002b-Attributes.html#C_002b_002b-Attributes
    1566 % suggestion: implement this in CFA by picking objects with a specified priority and pulling them into their own init functions (could even group them by priority level -> map<int, list<ObjectDecl*>>) and pull init_priority forward into constructor and destructor attributes with the same priority level
    1567 GCC provides an attribute @init_priority@, which specifies allows specifying the relative priority for initialization of global objects on a per-object basis in \CC.
    1568 A similar attribute can be implemented in \CFA by pulling marked objects into global constructor/destructor-attribute functions with the specified priority.
    1569 For example,
    1570 \begin{cfacode}
    1571 struct A { ... };
    1572 void ?{}(A *, int);
    1573 void ^?{}(A *);
    1574 __attribute__((init_priority(200))) A x = { 123 };
    1575 \end{cfacode}
    1576 would generate
    1577 \begin{cfacode}
    1578 A x;
    1579 __attribute__((constructor(200))) __init_x() {
    1580   ?{}(&x, 123);  // construct x with priority 200
    1581 }
    1582 __attribute__((destructor(200))) __destroy_x() {
    1583   ?{}(&x);       // destruct x with priority 200
    1584 }
    1585 \end{cfacode}
    1586 
    15871561\subsection{Static Local Variables}
    15881562In standard C, it is possible to mark variables that are local to a function with the @static@ storage class.
    15891563Unlike normal local variables, a @static@ local variable is defined to live for the entire duration of the program, so that each call to the function has access to the same variable with the same address and value as it had in the previous call to the function. % TODO: mention dynamic loading caveat??
    1590 Much like global variables, in C @static@ variables can only be initialized to a \emph{compile-time constant value} so that a compiler is able to create storage for the variable and initialize it at compile-time.
     1564Much like global variables, in C @static@ variables must be initialized to a \emph{compile-time constant value} so that a compiler is able to create storage for the variable and initialize it before the program begins running.
    15911565
    15921566Yet again, this rule is too restrictive for a language with constructors and destructors.
     
    15991573Construction of @static@ local objects is implemented via an accompanying @static bool@ variable, which records whether the variable has already been constructed.
    16001574A conditional branch checks the value of the companion @bool@, and if the variable has not yet been constructed then the object is constructed.
    1601 The object's destructor is scheduled to be run when the program terminates using @atexit@, and the companion @bool@'s value is set so that subsequent invocations of the function do not reconstruct the object.
     1575The object's destructor is scheduled to be run when the program terminates using @atexit@, and the companion @bool@'s value is set so that subsequent invocations of the function will not reconstruct the object.
    16021576Since the parameter to @atexit@ is a parameter-less function, some additional tweaking is required.
    16031577First, the @static@ variable must be hoisted up to global scope and uniquely renamed to prevent name clashes with other global objects.
     
    16561630\end{cfacode}
    16571631
    1658 % TODO: move this section forward?? maybe just after constructor syntax? would need to remove _tmp_cp_ret0, since copy constructors are not discussed yet, but this might not be a big issue.
    16591632\subsection{Constructor Expressions}
    16601633In \CFA, it is possible to use a constructor as an expression.
    16611634Like other operators, the function name @?{}@ matches its operator syntax.
    16621635For example, @(&x){}@ calls the default constructor on the variable @x@, and produces @&x@ as a result.
    1663 A key example for this capability is the use of constructor expressions to initialize the result of a call to standard C routine @malloc@.
     1636The significance of constructors as expressions rather than as statements is that the result of a constructor expression can be used as part of a larger expression.
     1637A key example is the use of constructor expressions to initialize the result of a call to standard C routine @malloc@.
    16641638\begin{cfacode}
    16651639struct X { ... };
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