- Timestamp:
- Apr 11, 2017, 4:20:51 PM (8 years ago)
- Branches:
- ADT, aaron-thesis, arm-eh, ast-experimental, cleanup-dtors, deferred_resn, demangler, enum, forall-pointer-decay, jacob/cs343-translation, jenkins-sandbox, master, new-ast, new-ast-unique-expr, new-env, no_list, persistent-indexer, pthread-emulation, qualifiedEnum, resolv-new, with_gc
- Children:
- da1c772
- Parents:
- a0fc78a (diff), 32bcef7 (diff)
Note: this is a merge changeset, the changes displayed below correspond to the merge itself.
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links above to see all the changes relative to each parent. - Location:
- doc
- Files:
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- 10 added
- 8 edited
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doc/generic_types/generic_types.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 228 228 \end{lstlisting} 229 229 Within the block, the nested version of @<@ performs @>@ and this local version overrides the built-in @<@ so it is passed to @qsort@. 230 Hence, programmers can easily form alocal environments, adding and modifying appropriate functions, to maximize reuse of other existing functions and types.230 Hence, programmers can easily form local environments, adding and modifying appropriate functions, to maximize reuse of other existing functions and types. 231 231 232 232 Finally, \CFA allows variable overloading: -
doc/rob_thesis/cfa-format.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 72 72 morecomment=[n]{/+}{+/}, 73 73 morecomment=[n][\color{blue}]{/++}{+/}, 74 % Options 75 sensitive=true 76 } 77 78 \lstdefinelanguage{rust}{ 79 % Keywords 80 morekeywords=[1]{ 81 abstract, alignof, as, become, box, 82 break, const, continue, crate, do, 83 else, enum, extern, false, final, 84 fn, for, if, impl, in, 85 let, loop, macro, match, mod, 86 move, mut, offsetof, override, priv, 87 proc, pub, pure, ref, return, 88 Self, self, sizeof, static, struct, 89 super, trait, true, type, typeof, 90 unsafe, unsized, use, virtual, where, 91 while, yield 92 }, 93 % Strings 94 morestring=[b]{"}, 95 % Comments 96 comment=[l]{//}, 97 morecomment=[s]{/*}{*/}, 74 98 % Options 75 99 sensitive=true … … 155 179 \lstset{ 156 180 language = D, 181 style=defaultStyle, 182 #1 183 } 184 }{} 185 186 \lstnewenvironment{rustcode}[1][]{ 187 \lstset{ 188 language = rust, 157 189 style=defaultStyle, 158 190 #1 -
doc/rob_thesis/conclusions.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 3 3 %====================================================================== 4 4 5 Conclusion paragraphs. 5 \section{Constructors and Destructors} 6 \CFA supports the RAII idiom using constructors and destructors. 7 There are many engineering challenges in introducing constructors and destructors, partially since \CFA is not an object-oriented language. 8 By making use of managed types, \CFA programmers are afforded an extra layer of safety and ease of use in comparison to C programmers. 9 While constructors and destructors provide a sensible default behaviour, \CFA allows experienced programmers to declare unmanaged objects to take control of object management for performance reasons. 10 Constructors and destructors as named functions fit the \CFA polymorphism model perfectly, allowing polymorphic code to use managed types seamlessly. 11 12 \section{Tuples} 13 \CFA can express functions with multiple return values in a way that is simple, concise, and safe. 14 The addition of multiple-return-value functions naturally requires a way to use multiple return values, which begets tuple types. 15 Tuples provide two useful notions of assignment: multiple assignment, allowing simple, yet expressive assignment between multiple variables, and mass assignment, allowing a lossless assignment of a single value across multiple variables. 16 Tuples have a flexible structure that allows the \CFA type-system to decide how to restructure tuples, making it syntactically simple to pass tuples between functions. 17 Tuple types can be combined with polymorphism and tuple conversions can apply during assertion inference to produce a cohesive feel. 18 19 \section{Variadic Functions} 20 Type-safe variadic functions of a similar feel to variadic templates are added to \CFA. 21 The new variadic functions can express complicated recursive algorithms. 22 Unlike variadic templates, it is possible to write @new@ as a library routine and to separately compile @ttype@ polymorphic functions. 23 Variadic functions are statically type checked and provide a user experience that is consistent with that of tuples and polymorphic functions. 24 25 \section{Future Work} 26 \subsection{Constructors and Destructors} 27 Both \CC and Rust support move semantics, which expand the user's control of memory management by providing the ability to transfer ownership of large data, rather than forcing potentially expensive copy semantics. 28 \CFA currently does not support move semantics, partially due to the complexity of the model. 29 The design space is currently being explored with the goal of finding an alternative to move semantics that provides necessary performance benefits, while reducing the amount of repetition required to create a new type, along with the cognitive burden placed on the user. 30 31 Exception handling is among the features expected to be added to \CFA in the near future. 32 For exception handling to properly interact with the rest of the language, it must ensure all RAII guarantees continue to be met. 33 That is, when an exception is raised, it must properly unwind the stack by calling the destructors for any objects that live between the raise and the handler. 34 This can be accomplished either by augmenting the translator to properly emit code that executes the destructors, or by switching destructors to hook into the GCC @cleanup@ attribute \cite[6.32.1]{GCCExtensions}. 35 36 The @cleanup@ attribute, which is attached to a variable declaration, takes a function name as an argument and schedules that routine to be executed when the variable goes out of scope. 37 \begin{cfacode} 38 struct S { int x; }; 39 void __dtor_S(struct S *); 40 { 41 __attribute__((cleanup(__dtor_S))) struct S s; 42 } // calls __dtor_S(&s) 43 \end{cfacode} 44 This mechanism is known and understood by GCC, so that the destructor is properly called in any situation where a variable goes out of scope, including function returns, branches, and built-in GCC exception handling mechanisms using libunwind. 45 46 A caveat of this approach is that the @cleanup@ attribute only permits a name that refers to a function that consumes a single argument of type @T *@ for a variable of type @T@. 47 This means that any destructor that consumes multiple arguments (e.g., because it is polymorphic) or any destructor that is a function pointer (e.g., because it is an assertion parameter) must be called through a local thunk. 48 For example, 49 \begin{cfacode} 50 forall(otype T) 51 struct Box { 52 T x; 53 }; 54 forall(otype T) void ^?{}(Box(T) * x); 55 56 forall(otype T) 57 void f(T x) { 58 T y = x; 59 Box(T) z = { x }; 60 } 61 \end{cfacode} 62 currently generates the following 63 \begin{cfacode} 64 void _dtor_BoxT( // consumes more than 1 parameter due to assertions 65 void (*_adapter_PTT)(void (*)(), void *, void *), 66 void (*_adapter_T_PTT)(void (*)(), void *, void *, void *), 67 long unsigned int _sizeof_T, 68 long unsigned int _alignof_T, 69 void *(*_assign_T_PTT)(void *, void *), 70 void (*_ctor_PT)(void *), 71 void (*_ctor_PTT)(void *, void *), 72 void (*_dtor_PT)(void *), 73 void *x 74 ); 75 76 void f( 77 void (*_adapter_PTT)(void (*)(), void *, void *), 78 void (*_adapter_T_PTT)(void (*)(), void *, void *, void *), 79 long unsigned int _sizeof_T, 80 long unsigned int _alignof_T, 81 void *(*_assign_TT)(void *, void *), 82 void (*_ctor_T)(void *), 83 void (*_ctor_TT)(void *, void *), 84 void (*_dtor_T)(void *), 85 void *x 86 ){ 87 void *y = __builtin_alloca(_sizeof_T); 88 // constructor call elided 89 90 // generic layout computation elided 91 long unsigned int _sizeof_BoxT = ...; 92 void *z = __builtin_alloca(_sizeof_BoxT); 93 // constructor call elided 94 95 _dtor_BoxT( // ^?{}(&z); -- _dtor_BoxT has > 1 arguments 96 _adapter_PTT, 97 _adapter_T_PTT, 98 _sizeof_T, 99 _alignof_T, 100 _assign_TT, 101 _ctor_T, 102 _ctor_TT, 103 _dtor_T, 104 z 105 ); 106 _dtor_T(y); // ^?{}(&y); -- _dtor_T is a function pointer 107 } 108 \end{cfacode} 109 Further to this point, every distinct array type will require a thunk for its destructor, where array destructor code is currently inlined, since array destructors hard code the length of the array. 110 111 For function call temporaries, new scopes have to be added for destructor ordering to remain consistent. 112 In particular, the translator currently destroys argument and return value temporary objects as soon as the statement they were created for ends. 113 In order for this behaviour to be maintained, new scopes have to be added around every statement that contains a function call. 114 Since a nested expression can raise an exception, care must be taken when destroying temporary objects. 115 One way to achieve this is to split statements at every function call, to provide the correct scoping to destroy objects as necessary. 116 For example, 117 \begin{cfacode} 118 struct S { ... }; 119 void ?{}(S *, S); 120 void ^?{}(S *); 121 122 S f(); 123 S g(S); 124 125 g(f()); 126 \end{cfacode} 127 would generate 128 \begin{cfacode} 129 struct S { ... }; 130 void _ctor_S(struct S *, struct S); 131 void _dtor_S(struct S *); 132 133 { 134 __attribute__((cleanup(_dtor_S))) struct S _tmp1 = f(); 135 __attribute__((cleanup(_dtor_S))) struct S _tmp2 = 136 (_ctor_S(&_tmp2, _tmp1), _tmp2); 137 __attribute__((cleanup(_dtor_S))) struct S _tmp3 = g(_tmp2); 138 } // destroy _tmp3, _tmp2, _tmp1 139 \end{cfacode} 140 Note that destructors must be registered after the temporary is fully initialized, since it is possible for initialization expressions to raise exceptions, and a destructor should never be called on an uninitialized object. 141 This requires a slightly strange looking initializer for constructor calls, where a comma expression is used to produce the value of the object being initialized, after the constructor call, conceptually bitwise copying the initialized data into itself. 142 Since this copy is wholly unnecessary, it is easily optimized away. 143 144 A second approach is to attach an accompanying boolean to every temporary that records whether the object contains valid data, and thus whether the value should be destructed. 145 \begin{cfacode} 146 struct S { ... }; 147 void _ctor_S(struct S *, struct S); 148 void _dtor_S(struct S *); 149 150 struct __tmp_bundle_S { 151 bool valid; 152 struct S value; 153 }; 154 155 void _dtor_tmpS(struct __tmp_bundle_S * ret) { 156 if (ret->valid) { 157 _dtor_S(&ret->value); 158 } 159 } 160 161 { 162 __attribute__((cleanup(_dtor_tmpS))) struct __tmp_bundle_S _tmp1 = { 0 }; 163 __attribute__((cleanup(_dtor_tmpS))) struct __tmp_bundle_S _tmp2 = { 0 }; 164 __attribute__((cleanup(_dtor_tmpS))) struct __tmp_bundle_S _tmp3 = { 0 }; 165 _tmp2.value = g( 166 (_ctor_S( 167 &_tmp2.value, 168 (_tmp1.value = f(), _tmp1.valid = 1, _tmp1.value) 169 ), _tmp2.valid = 1, _tmp2.value) 170 ), _tmp3.valid = 1, _tmp3.value; 171 } // destroy _tmp3, _tmp2, _tmp1 172 \end{cfacode} 173 In particular, the boolean is set immediately after argument construction and immediately after return value copy. 174 The boolean is checked as a part of the @cleanup@ routine, forwarding to the object's destructor if the object is valid. 175 One such type and @cleanup@ routine needs to be generated for every type used in a function parameter or return value. 176 177 The former approach generates much simpler code, however splitting expressions requires care to ensure that expression evaluation order does not change. 178 Expression ordering has to be performed by a full compiler, so it is possible that the latter approach would be more suited to the \CFA prototype, whereas the former approach is clearly the better option in a full compiler. 179 More investigation is needed to determine whether the translator's current design can easily handle proper expression ordering. 180 181 As discussed in Section \ref{s:implicit_copy_construction}, return values are destructed with a different @this@ pointer than they are constructed with. 182 This problem can be easily fixed once a full \CFA compiler is built, since it would have full control over the call/return mechanism. 183 In particular, since the callee is aware of where it needs to place the return value, it can construct the return value directly, rather than bitwise copy the internal data. 184 185 Currently, the special functions are always auto-generated, except for generic types where the type parameter does not have assertions for the corresponding operation. 186 For example, 187 \begin{cfacode} 188 forall(dtype T | sized(T) | { void ?{}(T *); }) 189 struct S { T x; }; 190 \end{cfacode} 191 will only auto-generate the default constructor for @S@, since the member @x@ is missing the other 3 special functions. 192 Once deleted functions have been added, function generation can make use of this information to disable generation of special functions when a member has a deleted function. 193 For example, 194 \begin{cfacode} 195 struct A {}; 196 void ?{}(A *) = delete; 197 struct S { A x; }; // does not generate void ?{}(S *); 198 \end{cfacode} 199 200 Unmanaged objects and their interactions with the managed \CFA environment are an open problem that deserves greater attention. 201 In particular, the interactions between unmanaged objects and copy semantics are subtle and can easily lead to errors. 202 It is possible that the compiler should mark some of these situations as errors by default, and possibly conditionally emit warnings for some situations. 203 Another possibility is to construct, destruct, and assign unmanaged objects using the intrinsic and auto-generated functions. 204 A more thorough examination of the design space for this problem is required. 205 206 Currently, the \CFA translator does not support any warnings. 207 Ideally, the translator should support optional warnings in the case where it can detect that an object has been constructed twice. 208 For example, forwarding constructor calls are guaranteed to initialize the entire object, so redundant constructor calls can cause problems such as memory leaks, while looking innocuous to a novice user. 209 \begin{cfacode} 210 struct B { ... }; 211 struct A { 212 B x, y, z; 213 }; 214 void ?{}(A * a, B x) { 215 // y, z implicitly default constructed 216 (&a->x){ ... }; // explicitly construct x 217 } // constructs an entire A 218 void ?{}(A * a) { 219 (&a->y){}; // initialize y 220 a{ (B){ ... } }; // forwarding constructor call 221 // initializes entire object, including y 222 } 223 \end{cfacode} 224 225 Finally, while constructors provide a mechanism for establishing invariants, there is currently no mechanism for maintaining invariants without resorting to opaque types. 226 That is, structure fields can be accessed and modified by any block of code without restriction, so while it's possible to ensure that an object is initially set to a valid state, it isn't possible to ensure that it remains in a consistent state throughout its lifetime. 227 A popular technique for ensuring consistency in object-oriented programming languages is to provide access modifiers such as @private@, which provides compile-time checks that only privileged code accesses private data. 228 This approach could be added to \CFA, but it requires an idiomatic way of specifying what code is privileged. 229 One possibility is to tie access control into an eventual module system. 230 231 \subsection{Tuples} 232 Named result values are planned, but not yet implemented. 233 This feature ties nicely into named tuples, as seen in D and Swift. 234 235 Currently, tuple flattening and structuring conversions are 0-cost. 236 This makes tuples conceptually very simple to work with, but easily causes unnecessary ambiguity in situations where the type system should be able to differentiate between alternatives. 237 Adding an appropriate cost function to tuple conversions will allow tuples to interact with the rest of the programming language more cohesively. 238 239 \subsection{Variadic Functions} 240 Use of @ttype@ functions currently relies heavily on recursion. 241 \CC has opened variadic templates up so that recursion isn't strictly necessary in some cases, and it would be interesting to see if any such cases can be applied to \CFA. 242 243 \CC supports variadic templated data types, making it possible to express arbitrary length tuples, arbitrary parameter function objects, and more with generic types. 244 Currently, \CFA does not support @ttype@-parameter generic types, though there does not appear to be a technical reason that it cannot. 245 Notably, opening up support for this makes it possible to implement the exit form of scope guard (see section \ref{s:ResMgmt}), making it possible to call arbitrary functions at scope exit in idiomatic \CFA. -
doc/rob_thesis/ctordtor.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 3 3 %====================================================================== 4 4 5 % TODO: discuss move semantics; they haven't been implemented, but could be. Currently looking at alternative models. (future work) 6 7 % TODO: as an experiment, implement Andrei Alexandrescu's ScopeGuard http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/generic-change-the-way-you-write-excepti/184403758?pgno=2 5 % TODO now: as an experiment, implement Andrei Alexandrescu's ScopeGuard http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/generic-change-the-way-you-write-excepti/184403758?pgno=2 8 6 % doesn't seem possible to do this without allowing ttype on generic structs? 9 7 10 % If a Cforall constructor is in scope, C style initialization is11 % disabled by default.12 % * initialization rule: if any constructor is in scope for type T, try13 % to find a matching constructor for the call. If there are no14 % constructors in scope for type T, then attempt to fall back on15 % C-style initialization.16 % + if this rule was not in place, it would be easy to accidentally17 % use C-style initialization in certain cases, which could lead to18 % subtle errors [2]19 % - this means we need special syntax if we want to allow users to force20 % a C-style initialization (to give users more control)21 % - two different declarations in the same scope can be implicitly22 % initialized differently. That is, there may be two objects of type23 % T that are initialized differently because there is a constructor24 % definition between them. This is not technically specific to25 % constructors.26 27 % C-style initializers can be accessed with @= syntax28 % + provides a way to get around the requirement of using a constructor29 % (for advanced programmers only)30 % - can break invariants in the type => unsafe31 % * provides a way of asserting that a variable is an instance of a32 % C struct (i.e. a POD struct), and so will not be implicitly33 % destructed (this can be useful at times, maybe mitigates the need34 % for move semantics?) [3]35 % + can modernize a code base one step at a time36 37 % Cforall constructors can be used in expressions to initialize any38 % piece of memory.39 % + malloc() { ... } calls the appropriate constructor on the newly40 % allocated space; the argument is moved into the constructor call41 % without taking its address [4]42 % - with the above form, there is still no way to ensure that43 % dynamically allocated objects are constructed. To resolve this,44 % we might want a stronger "new" function which always calls the45 % constructor, although how we accomplish that is currently still46 % unresolved (compiler magic vs. better variadic functions?)47 % + This can be used as a placement syntax [5]48 % - can call the constructor on an object more than once, which could49 % cause resource leaks and reinitialize const fields (can try to50 % detect and prevent this in some cases)51 % * compiler always tries to implicitly insert a ctor/dtor pair for52 % non-@= objects.53 % * For POD objects, this will resolve to an autogenerated or54 % intrinsic function.55 % * Intrinsic functions are not automatically called. Autogenerated56 % are, because they may call a non-autogenerated function.57 % * destructors are automatically inserted at appropriate branches58 % (e.g. return, break, continue, goto) and at the end of the block59 % in which they are declared.60 % * For @= objects, the compiler never tries to interfere and insert61 % constructor and destructor calls for that object. Copy constructor62 % calls do not count, because the object is not the target of the copy63 % constructor.64 65 % A constructor is declared with the name ?{}66 % + combines the look of C initializers with the precedent of ?() being67 % the name for the function call operator68 % + it is possible to easily search for all constructors in a project69 % and immediately know that a function is a constructor by seeing the70 % name "?{}"71 72 % A destructor is declared with the name ^?{}73 % + name mirrors a constructor's name, with an extra symbol to74 % distinguish it75 % - the symbol '~' cannot be used due to parsing conflicts with the76 % unary '~' (bitwise negation) operator - this conflict exists because77 % we want to allow users to write ^x{}; to destruct x, rather than78 % ^?{}(&x);79 80 % The first argument of a constructor must be a pointer. The constructed81 % type is the base type of the pointer. E.g. void ?{}(T *) is a default82 % constructor for a T.83 % + can name the argument whatever you like, so not constrained by84 % language keyword "this" or "self", etc.85 % - have to explicitly qualify all object members to initialize them86 % (e.g. this->x = 0, rather than just x = 0)87 88 % Destructors can take arguments other than just the destructed pointer89 % * open research problem: not sure how useful this is90 91 % Pointer constructors92 % + can construct separately compiled objects (opaque types) [6]93 % + orthogonal design, follows directly from the definition of the first94 % argument of a constructor95 % - may require copy constructor or move constructor (or equivalent)96 % for correct implementation, which may not be obvious to everyone97 % + required feature for the prelude to specify as much behavior as possible98 % (similar to pointer assignment operators in this respect)99 100 % Designations can only be used for C-style initialization101 % * designation for constructors is equivalent to designation for any102 % general function call. Since a function prototype can be redeclared103 % many times, with arguments named differently each time (or not at104 % all!), this is considered to be an undesirable feature. We could105 % construct some set of rules to allow this behaviour, but it is106 % probably more trouble than it's worth, and no matter what we choose,107 % it is not likely to be obvious to most people.108 109 % Constructing an anonymous member [7]110 % + same as with calling any other function on an anonymous member111 % (implicit conversion by the compiler)112 % - may be some cases where this is ambiguous => clarify with a cast113 % (try to design APIs to avoid sharing function signatures between114 % composed types to avoid this)115 116 % Default Constructors and Destructors are called implicitly117 % + cannot forget to construct or destruct an object118 % - requires special syntax to specify that an object is not to be119 % constructed (@=)120 % * an object will not be implicitly constructed OR destructed if121 % explicitly initialized like a C object (@= syntax)122 % * an object will be destructed if there are no constructors in scope123 % (even though it is initialized like a C object) [8]124 125 % An object which changes from POD type to non POD type will not change126 % the semantics of a type containing it by composition127 % * That is, constructors will not be regenerated at the point where128 % an object changes from POD type to non POD type, because this could129 % cause a cascade of constructors being regenerated for many other130 % types. Further, there is precedence for this behaviour in other131 % facets of Cforall's design, such as how nested functions interact.132 % * This behaviour can be simplified in a language without declaration133 % before use, because a type can be classified as POD or non POD134 % (rather than potentially changing between the two at some point) at135 % at the global scope (which is likely the most common case)136 % * [9]137 138 % Changes to polymorphic type classes139 % * dtype and ftype remain the same140 % * forall(otype T) is currently essentially the same as141 % forall(dtype T | { @size(T); void ?=?(T *, T); }).142 % The big addition is that you can declare an object of type T, rather143 % than just a pointer to an object of type T since you know the size,144 % and you can assign into a T.145 % * this definition is changed to add default constructor and146 % destructor declarations, to remain consistent with what type meant147 % before the introduction of constructors and destructors.148 % * that is, forall(type T) is now essentially the same as149 % forall(dtype T | { @size(T); void ?=?(T *, T);150 % void ?{}(T *); void ^?{}(T *); })151 % + this is required to make generic types work correctly in152 % polymorphic functions153 % ? since declaring a constructor invalidates the autogenerated154 % routines, it is possible for a type to have constructors, but155 % not default constructors. That is, it might be the case that156 % you want to write a polymorphic function for a type which has157 % a size, but non-default constructors? Some options:158 % * declaring a constructor as a part of the assertions list for159 % a type declaration invalidates the default, so160 % forall(otype T | { void ?{}(T *, int); })161 % really means162 % forall(dtype T | { @size(T); void ?=?(T *, T);163 % void ?{}(T *, int); void ^?{}(T *); })164 % * force users to fully declare the assertions list like the165 % above in this case (this seems very undesirable)166 % * add another type class with the current desugaring of type167 % (just size and assignment)168 % * provide some way of subtracting from an existing assertions169 % list (this might be useful to have in general)170 171 % Implementation issues:172 % Changes to prelude/autogen or built in defaults?173 % * pointer ctors/dtors [prelude]174 % * other pointer type routines are declared in the prelude, and this175 % doesn't seem like it should be any different176 % * basic type ctors/dtors [prelude]177 % * other basic type routines are declared in the prelude, and this178 % doesn't seem like it should be any different179 % ? aggregate types [undecided, but leaning towards autogenerate]180 % * prelude181 % * routines specific to aggregate types cannot be predeclared in182 % the prelude because we don't know the name of every183 % aggregate type in the entire program184 % * autogenerate185 % + default assignment operator is already autogenerated for186 % aggregate types187 % * this seems to lead us in the direction of autogenerating,188 % because we may have a struct which contains other objects189 % that require construction [10]. If we choose not to190 % autogenerate in this case, then objects which are part of191 % other objects by composition will not be constructed unless192 % a constructor for the outer type is explicitly defined193 % * in this case, we would always autogenerate the appropriate194 % constructor(s) for an aggregate type, but just like with195 % basic types, pointer types, and enum types, the constructor196 % call can be elided when when it is not necessary.197 % + constructors will have to be explicitly autogenerated198 % in the case where they are required for a polymorphic function,199 % when no user defined constructor is in scope, which may make it200 % easiest to always autogenerate all appropriate constructors201 % - n+2 constructors would have to be generated for a POD type202 % * one constructor for each number of valid arguments [0, n],203 % plus the copy constructor204 % * this is taking a simplified approach: in C, it is possible205 % to omit the enclosing braces in a declaration, which would206 % lead to a combinatorial explosion of generated constructors.207 % In the interest of keeping things tractable, Cforall may be208 % incompatible with C in this case. [11]209 % * for non-POD types, only autogenerate the default and copy210 % constructors211 % * alternative: generate only the default constructor and212 % special case initialization for any other constructor when213 % only the autogenerated one exists214 % - this is not very sensible, as by the previous point, these215 % constructors may be needed for polymorphic functions216 % anyway.217 % - must somehow distinguish in resolver between autogenerated and218 % user defined constructors (autogenerated should never be chosen219 % when a user defined option exists [check first parameter], even220 % if full signature differs) (this may also have applications221 % to other autogenerated routines?)222 % - this scheme does not naturally support designation (i.e. general223 % functions calls do not support designation), thus these cases224 % will have to be treated specially in either case225 % * defaults226 % * i.e. hardcode a new set of rules for some "appropriate" default227 % behaviour for228 % + when resolving an initialization expression, explicitly check to229 % see if any constructors are in scope. If yes, attempt to resolve230 % to a constructor, and produce an error message if a match is not231 % found. If there are no constructors in scope, resolve to232 % initializing each field individually (C-style)233 % + does not attempt to autogenerate constructors for POD types,234 % which can be seen as a space optimization for the program235 % binary236 % - as stated previously, a polymorphic routine may require these237 % autogenerated constructors, so this doesn't seem like a big win,238 % because this leads to more complicated logic and tracking of239 % which constructors have already been generated240 % - even though a constructor is not explicitly declared or used241 % polymorphically, we might still need one for all uses of a242 % struct (e.g. in the case of composition).243 % * the biggest tradeoff in autogenerating vs. defaulting appears to244 % be in where and how the special code to check if constructors are245 % present is handled. It appears that there are more reasons to246 % autogenerate than not.247 248 % --- examples249 % [1] As an example of using constructors polymorphically, consider a250 % slight modification on the foldl example I put on the mailing list a251 % few months ago:252 253 % context iterable(type collection, type element, type iterator) {254 % void ?{}(iterator *, collection); // used to be makeIterator, but can255 % // idiomatically use constructor256 % int hasNext(iterator);257 % iterator ++?(iterator *);258 % lvalue element *?(iterator);259 % };260 261 262 % forall(type collection, type element, type result, type iterator263 % | iterable(collection, element, iterator))264 % result foldl(collection c, result acc,265 % result (*reduce)(result, element)) {266 % iterator it = { c };267 % while (hasNext(it)) {268 % acc = reduce(acc, *it);269 % ++it;270 % }271 % return acc;272 % }273 274 % Now foldl makes use of the knowledge that the iterator type has a275 % single argument constructor which takes the collection to iterate276 % over. This pattern allows polymorphic code to look more natural277 % (constructors are generally preferred to named initializer/creation278 % routines, e.g. "makeIterator")279 280 % [2] An example of some potentially dangerous code that we don't want281 % to let easily slip through the cracks - if this is really what you282 % want, then use @= syntax for the second declaration to quiet the283 % compiler.284 285 % struct A { int x, y, z; }286 % ?{}(A *, int);287 % ?{}(A *, int, int, int);288 289 % A a1 = { 1 }; // uses ?{}(A *, int);290 % A a2 = { 2, 3 }; // C-style initialization -> no invariants!291 % A a3 = { 4, 5, 6 }; // uses ?{}(A *, int, int, int);292 293 % [3] Since @= syntax creates a C object (essentially a POD, as far as294 % the compiler is concerned), the object will not be destructed295 % implicitly when it leaves scope, nor will it be copy constructed when296 % it is returned. In this case, a memcpy should be equivalent to a move.297 298 % // Box.h299 % struct Box;300 % void ?{}(Box **, int};301 % void ^?{}(Box **);302 % Box * make_fortytwo();303 304 % // Box.cfa305 % Box * make_fortytwo() {306 % Box *b @= {};307 % (&b){ 42 }; // construct explicitly308 % return b; // no destruction, essentially a move?309 % }310 311 % [4] Cforall's typesafe malloc can be composed with constructor312 % expressions. It is possible for a user to define their own functions313 % similar to malloc and achieve the same effects (e.g. Aaron's example314 % of an arena allocator)315 316 % // CFA malloc317 % forall(type T)318 % T * malloc() { return (T *)malloc(sizeof(T)); }319 320 % struct A { int x, y, z; };321 % void ?{}(A *, int);322 323 % int foo(){324 % ...325 % // desugars to:326 % // A * a = ?{}(malloc(), 123);327 % A * a = malloc() { 123 };328 % ...329 % }330 331 % [5] Aaron's example of combining function calls with constructor332 % syntax to perform an operation similar to C++'s std::vector::emplace333 % (i.e. to construct a new element in place, without the need to334 % copy)335 336 % forall(type T)337 % struct vector {338 % T * elem;339 % int len;340 % ...341 % };342 343 % ...344 % forall(type T)345 % T * vector_new(vector(T) * v) {346 % // reallocate if needed347 % return &v->elem[len++];348 % }349 350 % int main() {351 % vector(int) * v = ...352 % vector_new(v){ 42 }; // add element to the end of vector353 % }354 355 % [6] Pointer Constructors. It could be useful to use the existing356 % constructor syntax even more uniformly for ADTs. With this, ADTs can357 % be initialized in the same manor as any other object in a polymorphic358 % function.359 360 % // vector.h361 % forall(type T) struct vector;362 % forall(type T) void ?{}(vector(T) **);363 % // adds an element to the end364 % forall(type T) vector(T) * ?+?(vector(T) *, T);365 366 % // vector.cfa367 % // don't want to expose the implementation to the user and/or don't368 % // want to recompile the entire program if the struct definition369 % // changes370 371 % forall(type T) struct vector {372 % T * elem;373 % int len;374 % int capacity;375 % };376 377 % forall(type T) void resize(vector(T) ** v) { ... }378 379 % forall(type T) void ?{}(vector(T) ** v) {380 % vector(T) * vect = *v = malloc();381 % vect->capacity = 10;382 % vect->len = 0;383 % vect->elem = malloc(vect->capacity);384 % }385 386 % forall(type T) vector(T) * ?+?(vector(T) *v, T elem) {387 % if (v->len == v->capacity) resize(&v);388 % v->elem[v->len++] = elem;389 % }390 391 % // main.cfa392 % #include "adt.h"393 % forall(type T | { T ?+?(T, int); }394 % T sumRange(int lower, int upper) {395 % T x; // default construct396 % for (int i = lower; i <= upper; i++) {397 % x = x + i;398 % }399 % return x;400 % }401 402 % int main() {403 % vector(int) * numbers = sumRange(1, 10);404 % // numbers is now a vector containing [1..10]405 406 % int sum = sumRange(1, 10);407 % // sum is now an int containing the value 55408 % }409 410 % [7] The current proposal is to use the plan 9 model of inheritance.411 % Under this model, all of the members of an unnamed struct instance412 % become members of the containing struct. In addition, an object413 % can be passed as an argument to a function expecting one of its414 % base structs.415 416 % struct Point {417 % double x;418 % double y;419 % };420 421 % struct ColoredPoint {422 % Point; // anonymous member (no identifier)423 % // => a ColoredPoint has an x and y of type double424 % int color;425 % };426 427 % ColoredPoint cp = ...;428 % cp.x = 10.3; // x from Point is accessed directly429 % cp.color = 0x33aaff; // color is accessed normally430 % foo(cp); // cp can be used directly as a Point431 432 % void ?{}(Point *p, double x, double y) {433 % p->x = x;434 % p->y = y;435 % }436 437 % void ?{}(ColoredPoint *cp, double x, double y, int color) {438 % (&cp){ x, y }; // unambiguous, no ?{}(ColoredPoint*,double,double)439 % cp->color = color;440 % }441 442 % struct Size {443 % double width;444 % double height;445 % };446 447 % void ?{}(Size *s, double w, double h) {448 % p->width = w;449 % p->height = h;450 % }451 452 % struct Foo {453 % Point;454 % Size;455 % }456 457 % ?{}(Foo &f, double x, double y, double w, double h) {458 % // (&F,x,y) is ambiguous => is it ?{}(Point*,double,double) or459 % // ?{}(Size*,double,double)? Solve with a cast:460 % ((Point*)&F){ x, y };461 % ((Size*)&F){ w, h };462 % }463 464 % [8] Destructors will be called on objects that were not constructed.465 466 % struct A { ... };467 % ^?{}(A *);468 % {469 % A x;470 % A y @= {};471 % } // x is destructed, even though it wasn't constructed472 % // y is not destructed, because it is explicitly a C object473 474 475 % [9] A type's constructor is generated at declaration time using476 % current information about an object's members. This is analogous to477 % the treatment of other operators. For example, an object's assignment478 % operator will not change to call the override of a member's assignment479 % operator unless the object's assignment is also explicitly overridden.480 % This problem can potentially be treated differently in Do, since each481 % compilation unit is passed over at least twice (once to gather482 % symbol information, once to generate code - this is necessary to483 % achieve the "No declarations" goal)484 485 % struct A { ... };486 % struct B { A x; };487 % ...488 % void ?{}(A *); // from this point on, A objects will be constructed489 % B b1; // b1 and b1.x are both NOT constructed, because B490 % // objects are not constructed491 % void ?{}(B *); // from this point on, B objects will be constructed492 % B b2; // b2 and b2.x are both constructed493 494 % struct C { A x; };495 % // implicit definition of ?{}(C*), because C is not a POD type since496 % // it contains a non-POD type by composition497 % C c; // c and c.x are both constructed498 499 % [10] Requiring construction by composition500 501 % struct A {502 % ...503 % };504 505 % // declared ctor disables default c-style initialization of506 % // A objects; A is no longer a POD type507 % void ?{}(A *);508 509 % struct B {510 % A x;511 % };512 513 % // B objects can not be C-style initialized, because A objects514 % // must be constructed => B objects are transitively not POD types515 % B b; // b.x must be constructed, but B is not constructible516 % // => must autogenerate ?{}(B *) after struct B definition,517 % // which calls ?{}(&b.x)518 519 % [11] Explosion in the number of generated constructors, due to strange520 % C semantics.521 522 % struct A { int x, y; };523 % struct B { A u, v, w; };524 525 % A a = { 0, 0 };526 527 % // in C, you are allowed to do this528 % B b1 = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 };529 % B b2 = { 1, 2, 3 };530 % B b3 = { a, a, a };531 % B b4 = { a, 5, 4, a };532 % B b5 = { 1, 2, a, 3 };533 534 % // we want to disallow b1, b2, b4, and b5 in Cforall.535 % // In particular, we will autogenerate these constructors:536 % void ?{}(A *); // default/0 parameters537 % void ?{}(A *, int); // 1 parameter538 % void ?{}(A *, int, int); // 2 parameters539 % void ?{}(A *, const A *); // copy constructor540 541 % void ?{}(B *); // default/0 parameters542 % void ?{}(B *, A); // 1 parameter543 % void ?{}(B *, A, A); // 2 parameters544 % void ?{}(B *, A, A, A); // 3 parameters545 % void ?{}(B *, const B *); // copy constructor546 547 % // we will not generate constructors for every valid combination548 % // of members in C. For example, we will not generate549 % void ?{}(B *, int, int, int, int, int, int); // b1 would need this550 % void ?{}(B *, int, int, int); // b2 would need this551 % void ?{}(B *, A, int, int, A); // b4 would need this552 % void ?{}(B *, int, int, A, int); // b5 would need this553 % // and so on554 555 556 557 % TODO: talk somewhere about compound literals?558 559 8 Since \CFA is a true systems language, it does not provide a garbage collector. 560 As well, \CFA is not an object-oriented programming language, i.e. structures cannot have routine members.9 As well, \CFA is not an object-oriented programming language, i.e., structures cannot have routine members. 561 10 Nevertheless, one important goal is to reduce programming complexity and increase safety. 562 11 To that end, \CFA provides support for implicit pre/post-execution of routines for objects, via constructors and destructors. 563 12 564 % TODO: this is old. remove or refactor565 % 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).574 575 13 This chapter details the design of constructors and destructors in \CFA, along with their current implementation in the translator. 576 Generated code samples have been edited to provide comments for clarity and to save on space.14 Generated code samples have been edited for clarity and brevity. 577 15 578 16 \section{Design Criteria} … … 592 30 Next, @x@ is assigned the value of @y@. 593 31 In the last line, @z@ is implicitly initialized to 0 since it is marked @static@. 594 The key difference between assignment and initialization being that assignment occurs on a live object (i.e. an object that contains data).32 The key difference between assignment and initialization being that assignment occurs on a live object (i.e., an object that contains data). 595 33 It is important to note that this means @x@ could have been used uninitialized prior to being assigned, while @y@ could not be used uninitialized. 596 Use of uninitialized variables yields undefined behaviour, which is a common source of errors in C programs. % TODO: *citation* 597 598 Declaration 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. 599 Many C compilers give good warnings most of the time, but they cannot in all cases. 600 \begin{cfacode} 601 int f(int *); // never reads the parameter, only writes 602 int g(int *); // reads the parameter - expects an initialized variable 34 Use of uninitialized variables yields undefined behaviour, which is a common source of errors in C programs. 35 36 Initialization of a declaration is strictly optional, permitting uninitialized variables to exist. 37 Furthermore, declaration initialization is limited to expressions, so there is no way to insert arbitrary code before a variable is live, without delaying the declaration. 38 Many C compilers give good warnings for uninitialized variables most of the time, but they cannot in all cases. 39 \begin{cfacode} 40 int f(int *); // output parameter: never reads, only writes 41 int g(int *); // input parameter: never writes, only reads, 42 // so requires initialized variable 603 43 604 44 int x, y; 605 45 f(&x); // okay - only writes to x 606 g(&y); // will usey uninitialized607 \end{cfacode} 608 Other languages are able to give errors in the case of uninitialized variable use, but due to backwards compatibility concerns, this cannot bethe case in \CFA.609 610 In C, constructors and destructors are often mimicked by providing routines that create and tear down objects, where the teardown function is typically only necessary if the type modifies the execution environment.46 g(&y); // uses y uninitialized 47 \end{cfacode} 48 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. 49 50 In C, constructors and destructors are often mimicked by providing routines that create and tear down objects, where the tear down function is typically only necessary if the type modifies the execution environment. 611 51 \begin{cfacode} 612 52 struct array_int { … … 614 54 }; 615 55 struct array_int create_array(int sz) { 616 return (struct array_int) { malloc(sizeof(int)*sz) };56 return (struct array_int) { calloc(sizeof(int)*sz) }; 617 57 } 618 58 void destroy_rh(struct resource_holder * rh) { … … 634 74 Furthermore, even with this idiom it is easy to make mistakes, such as forgetting to destroy an object or destroying it multiple times. 635 75 636 A constructor provides a way of ensuring that the necessary aspects of object initialization is performed, from setting up invariants to providing compile- time checks for appropriate initialization parameters.76 A constructor provides a way of ensuring that the necessary aspects of object initialization is performed, from setting up invariants to providing compile- and run-time checks for appropriate initialization parameters. 637 77 This goal is achieved through a guarantee that a constructor is called implicitly after every object is allocated from a type with associated constructors, as part of an object's definition. 638 78 Since a constructor is called on every object of a managed type, it is impossible to forget to initialize such objects, as long as all constructors perform some sensible form of initialization. 639 79 640 80 In \CFA, a constructor is a function with the name @?{}@. 81 Like other operators in \CFA, the name represents the syntax used to call the constructor, e.g., @struct S = { ... };@. 641 82 Every 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). 642 83 The @this@ parameter must have a pointer type, whose base type is the type of object that the function constructs. … … 655 96 656 97 In C, if the user creates an @Array@ object, the fields @data@ and @len@ are uninitialized, unless an explicit initializer list is present. 657 It is the user's responsibility to remember to initialize both of the fields to sensible values .98 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. 658 99 In \CFA, the user can define a constructor to handle initialization of @Array@ objects. 659 100 … … 671 112 This 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. 672 113 This particular form of constructor is called the \emph{default constructor}, because it is called on an object defined without an initializer. 673 In other words, a default constructor is a constructor that takes a single argument ,the @this@ parameter.674 675 In \CFA, a destructor is a function much like a constructor, except that its name is \lstinline!^?{}! .114 In other words, a default constructor is a constructor that takes a single argument: the @this@ parameter. 115 116 In \CFA, a destructor is a function much like a constructor, except that its name is \lstinline!^?{}! and it take only one argument. 676 117 A destructor for the @Array@ type can be defined as such. 677 118 \begin{cfacode} … … 680 121 } 681 122 \end{cfacode} 682 Since 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. 123 The destructor is automatically called at deallocation for all objects of type @Array@. 124 Hence, the memory associated with an @Array@ is automatically freed when the object's lifetime ends. 683 125 The exact guarantees made by \CFA with respect to the calling of destructors are discussed in section \ref{sub:implicit_dtor}. 684 126 … … 691 133 \end{cfacode} 692 134 By the previous definition of the default constructor for @Array@, @x@ and @y@ are initialized to valid arrays of length 10 after their respective definitions. 693 On line 3, @z@ is initialized with the value of @x@, while on line @4@, @y@ is assigned the value of @x@.135 On line 2, @z@ is initialized with the value of @x@, while on line 3, @y@ is assigned the value of @x@. 694 136 The 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. 695 137 In particular, these cases cannot be handled the same way because in the former case @z@ does not currently own an array, while @y@ does. … … 712 154 The first function is called a \emph{copy constructor}, because it constructs its argument by copying the values from another object of the same type. 713 155 The second function is the standard copy-assignment operator. 714 The se four functions are special in that they control the state of most objects.156 The four functions (default constructor, destructor, copy constructor, and assignment operator) are special in that they safely control the state of most objects. 715 157 716 158 It is possible to define a constructor that takes any combination of parameters to provide additional initialization options. 717 For example, a reasonable extension to the array type would be a constructor that allocates the array to a given initial capacity and initializes the array to a given @fill@ value.159 For example, a reasonable extension to the array type would be a constructor that allocates the array to a given initial capacity and initializes the elements of the array to a given @fill@ value. 718 160 \begin{cfacode} 719 161 void ?{}(Array * arr, int capacity, int fill) { … … 729 171 Array x, y = { 20, 0xdeadbeef }, z = y; 730 172 \end{cfacode} 173 731 174 In \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. 732 175 One 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. … … 748 191 Destructors are implicitly called in reverse declaration-order so that objects with dependencies are destructed before the objects they are dependent on. 749 192 750 \subsection{ Syntax}751 \label{sub:syntax} % TODO: finish this section193 \subsection{Calling Syntax} 194 \label{sub:syntax} 752 195 There are several ways to construct an object in \CFA. 753 196 As previously introduced, every variable is automatically constructed at its definition, which is the most natural way to construct an object. … … 773 216 A * y = malloc(); // copy construct: ?{}(&y, malloc()) 774 217 775 ?{}(&x); // explicit construct x 776 ?{}(y, x); // explit construct y from x 777 ^?{}(&x); // explicit destroy x 218 ?{}(&x); // explicit construct x, second construction 219 ?{}(y, x); // explit construct y from x, second construction 220 ^?{}(&x); // explicit destroy x, in different order 778 221 ^?{}(y); // explicit destroy y 779 222 … … 781 224 // implicit ^?{}(&x); 782 225 \end{cfacode} 783 Calling a constructor or destructor directly is a flexible feature that allows complete control over the management of a piece ofstorage.226 Calling a constructor or destructor directly is a flexible feature that allows complete control over the management of storage. 784 227 In particular, constructors double as a placement syntax. 785 228 \begin{cfacode} … … 804 247 Finally, constructors and destructors support \emph{operator syntax}. 805 248 Like 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. 249 This syntactic form is similar to the new initialization syntax in \CCeleven, except that it is used in expression contexts, rather than declaration contexts. 806 250 \begin{cfacode} 807 251 struct A { ... }; … … 822 266 Destructor operator syntax is actually an statement, and requires parentheses for symmetry with constructor syntax. 823 267 268 One of these three syntactic forms should appeal to either C or \CC programmers using \CFA. 269 270 \subsection{Constructor Expressions} 271 In \CFA, it is possible to use a constructor as an expression. 272 Like other operators, the function name @?{}@ matches its operator syntax. 273 For example, @(&x){}@ calls the default constructor on the variable @x@, and produces @&x@ as a result. 274 A key example for this capability is the use of constructor expressions to initialize the result of a call to standard C routine @malloc@. 275 \begin{cfacode} 276 struct X { ... }; 277 void ?{}(X *, double); 278 X * x = malloc(sizeof(X)){ 1.5 }; 279 \end{cfacode} 280 In this example, @malloc@ dynamically allocates storage and initializes it using a constructor, all before assigning it into the variable @x@. 281 If this extension is not present, constructing dynamically allocated objects is much more cumbersome, requiring separate initialization of the pointer and initialization of the pointed-to memory. 282 \begin{cfacode} 283 X * x = malloc(sizeof(X)); 284 x{ 1.5 }; 285 \end{cfacode} 286 Not only is this verbose, but it is also more error prone, since this form allows maintenance code to easily sneak in between the initialization of @x@ and the initialization of the memory that @x@ points to. 287 This feature is implemented via a transformation producing the value of the first argument of the constructor, since constructors do not themselves have a return value. 288 Since this transformation results in two instances of the subexpression, care is taken to allocate a temporary variable to hold the result of the subexpression in the case where the subexpression may contain side effects. 289 The previous example generates the following code. 290 \begin{cfacode} 291 struct X *_tmp_ctor; 292 struct X *x = ?{}( // construct result of malloc 293 _tmp_ctor=malloc(sizeof(struct X)), // store result of malloc 294 1.5 295 ), _tmp_ctor; // produce constructed result of malloc 296 \end{cfacode} 297 It should be noted that this technique is not exclusive to @malloc@, and allows a user to write a custom allocator that can be idiomatically used in much the same way as a constructed @malloc@ call. 298 299 It is also possible to use operator syntax with destructors. 300 Unlike constructors, operator syntax with destructors is a statement and thus does not produce a value, since the destructed object is invalidated by the use of a destructor. 301 For example, \lstinline!^(&x){}! calls the destructor on the variable @x@. 302 824 303 \subsection{Function Generation} 825 In \CFA, every type is defined to have the core set of four functions described previously.304 In \CFA, every type is defined to have the core set of four special functions described previously. 826 305 Having these functions exist for every type greatly simplifies the semantics of the language, since most operations can simply be defined directly in terms of function calls. 827 306 In addition to simplifying the definition of the language, it also simplifies the analysis that the translator must perform. … … 833 312 There are several options for user-defined types: structures, unions, and enumerations. 834 313 To aid in ease of use, the standard set of four functions is automatically generated for a user-defined type after its definition is completed. 835 By auto-generating these functions, it is ensured that legacy C code will continueto work correctly in every context where \CFA expects these functions to exist, since they are generated for every complete type.314 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. 836 315 837 316 The generated functions for enumerations are the simplest. 838 Since 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 317 Since enumerations in C are essentially just another integral type, the generated functions behave in the same way that the built-in functions for the basic types work. 840 318 For example, given the enumeration 841 319 \begin{cfacode} … … 850 328 } 851 329 void ?{}(enum Colour *_dst, enum Colour _src){ 852 (*_dst)=_src; // bitwise copy330 *_dst=_src; // bitwise copy 853 331 } 854 332 void ^?{}(enum Colour *_dst){ … … 856 334 } 857 335 enum Colour ?=?(enum Colour *_dst, enum Colour _src){ 858 return (*_dst)=_src; // bitwise copy336 return *_dst=_src; // bitwise copy 859 337 } 860 338 \end{cfacode} 861 339 In the future, \CFA will introduce strongly-typed enumerations, like those in \CC. 862 The existing generated routines will be sufficient to express this restriction, since they are currently set up to take in values of that enumeration type.340 The existing generated routines are sufficient to express this restriction, since they are currently set up to take in values of that enumeration type. 863 341 Changes 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@. 864 In 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.342 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. 865 343 866 344 For structures, the situation is more complicated. 867 Fora 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 @$i$@.868 That is, a default constructor for @S@ default constructs the members of @S@, the copy constructor with copy constructthem, and so on.869 For example given the structdefinition345 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 @$i$@. 346 That is, a default constructor for @S@ default constructs the members of @S@, the copy constructor copy constructs them, and so on. 347 For example, given the structure definition 870 348 \begin{cfacode} 871 349 struct A { … … 893 371 } 894 372 \end{cfacode} 895 It is important to note that the destructors are called in reverse declaration order to resolveconflicts in the event there are dependencies among members.373 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. 896 374 897 375 In addition to the standard set, a set of \emph{field constructors} is also generated for structures. 898 The field constructors are constructors that consume a prefix of the struct 's memberlist.376 The field constructors are constructors that consume a prefix of the structure's member-list. 899 377 That 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. 900 The addition of field constructors allows struct s 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 }@.378 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 }@. 901 379 Extending the previous example, the following constructors are implicitly generated for @A@. 902 380 \begin{cfacode} … … 911 389 \end{cfacode} 912 390 913 For unions, the default constructor and destructor do nothing, as it is not obvious which member if anyshould be constructed.391 For unions, the default constructor and destructor do nothing, as it is not obvious which member, if any, should be constructed. 914 392 For copy constructor and assignment operations, a bitwise @memcpy@ is applied. 915 393 In 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. 916 An alter antive to this design is to always construct and destruct the first member of a union, to match with the C semantics of initializing the first member of the union.394 An alternative to this design is to always construct and destruct the first member of a union, to match with the C semantics of initializing the first member of the union. 917 395 This approach ultimately feels subtle and unsafe. 918 396 Another option is to, like \CC, disallow unions from containing members that are themselves managed types. … … 947 425 948 426 % 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 949 In \CCeleven, this restriction has been loosened to allow unions with managed members, with the caveat that anyif 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.427 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. 950 428 This restriction could easily be added into \CFA once \emph{deleted} functions are added. 951 429 … … 970 448 Here, @&s@ and @&s2@ are cast to unqualified pointer types. 971 449 This mechanism allows the same constructors and destructors to be used for qualified objects as for unqualified objects. 972 Since 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. 450 This applies only to implicitly generated constructor calls. 451 Hence, explicitly re-initializing qualified objects with a constructor requires an explicit cast. 452 453 As discussed in Section \ref{sub:c_background}, compound literals create unnamed objects. 454 This mechanism can continue to be used seamlessly in \CFA with managed types to create temporary objects. 455 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. 456 For example, 457 \begin{cfacode} 458 struct A { int x; }; 459 void ?{}(A *, int, int); 460 { 461 int x = (A){ 10, 20 }.x; 462 } 463 \end{cfacode} 464 is equivalent to 465 \begin{cfacode} 466 struct A { int x, y; }; 467 void ?{}(A *, int, int); 468 { 469 A _tmp; 470 ?{}(&_tmp, 10, 20); 471 int x = _tmp.x; 472 ^?{}(&tmp); 473 } 474 \end{cfacode} 973 475 974 476 Unlike \CC, \CFA provides an escape hatch that allows a user to decide at an object's definition whether it should be managed or not. … … 984 486 A a2 @= { 0 }; // unmanaged 985 487 \end{cfacode} 986 In 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. 987 Instead, @a2->x@ is initialized to @0@ as if it were a C object, due to the explicit initializer. 988 Existing constructors are ignored when \ateq is used, so that any valid C initializer is able to initialize the object. 989 990 In 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. 488 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. 489 Instead, @a2->x@ is initialized to @0@ as if it were a C object, because of the explicit initializer. 490 491 In addition to freedom, \ateq provides a simple path to migrating legacy C code to \CFA, in that objects can be moved from C-style initialization to \CFA gradually and individually. 991 492 It is worth noting that the use of unmanaged objects can be tricky to get right, since there is no guarantee that the proper invariants are established on an unmanaged object. 992 493 It is recommended that most objects be managed by sensible constructors and destructors, except where absolutely necessary. 993 494 994 When 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 unlessthe user-defined function goes out of scope.995 Furthermore, 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.996 Th is 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??495 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. 496 Furthermore, if the user declares any constructor, then the intrinsic/generated default constructor is also hidden, precluding default construction. 497 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++}. 997 498 \begin{cfacode} 998 499 struct S { int x, y; }; … … 1001 502 S s0, s1 = { 0 }, s2 = { 0, 2 }, s3 = s2; // okay 1002 503 { 1003 void ?{}(S * s, int i) { s->x = i*2; } 504 void ?{}(S * s, int i) { s->x = i*2; } // locally hide autogen constructors 1004 505 S s4; // error 1005 506 S s5 = { 3 }; // okay … … 1014 515 When defining a constructor or destructor for a struct @S@, any members that are not explicitly constructed or destructed are implicitly constructed or destructed automatically. 1015 516 If an explicit call is present, then that call is taken in preference to any implicitly generated call. 1016 A consequence of this rule is that it is possible, unlike \CC, to precisely control the order of construction and destruction of sub objects on a per-constructor basis, whereas in \CC subobject initialization and destruction is always performed based on the declaration order.517 A consequence of this rule is that it is possible, unlike \CC, to precisely control the order of construction and destruction of sub-objects on a per-constructor basis, whereas in \CC sub-object initialization and destruction is always performed based on the declaration order. 1017 518 \begin{cfacode} 1018 519 struct A { … … 1033 534 } 1034 535 \end{cfacode} 1035 Finally, it is illegal for a sub object to be explicitly constructed for the first time after it is used for the first time.536 Finally, it is illegal for a sub-object to be explicitly constructed for the first time after it is used for the first time. 1036 537 If the translator cannot be reasonably sure that an object is constructed prior to its first use, but is constructed afterward, an error is emitted. 1037 More specifically, the translator searches the body of a constructor to ensure that every sub object is initialized.538 More specifically, the translator searches the body of a constructor to ensure that every sub-object is initialized. 1038 539 \begin{cfacode} 1039 540 void ?{}(A * a, double x) { … … 1042 543 } 1043 544 \end{cfacode} 1044 However, if the translator sees a sub object used within the body of a constructor, but does not see a constructor call that uses the subobject as the target of a constructor, then the translator assumes the object is to be implicitly constructed (copy constructed in a copy constructor and default constructed in any other constructor).545 However, if the translator sees a sub-object used within the body of a constructor, but does not see a constructor call that uses the sub-object as the target of a constructor, then the translator assumes the object is to be implicitly constructed (copy constructed in a copy constructor and default constructed in any other constructor). 1045 546 \begin{cfacode} 1046 547 void ?{}(A * a) { … … 1058 559 } // z, y, w implicitly destructed, in this order 1059 560 \end{cfacode} 1060 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: 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).561 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. 1061 562 To override this rule, \ateq can be used to force the translator to trust the programmer's discretion. 1062 563 This form of \ateq is not yet implemented. … … 1064 565 Despite great effort, some forms of C syntax do not work well with constructors in \CFA. 1065 566 In 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. 1066 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.1067 Furthermore, a function prototype can be repeated an arbitrary number of times, each time using different names.1068 567 \begin{cfacode} 1069 568 // all legal forward declarations in C … … 1076 575 f(b:10, a:20, c:30); // which parameter is which? 1077 576 \end{cfacode} 577 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. 578 Furthermore, a function prototype can be repeated an arbitrary number of times, each time using different names. 1078 579 As 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. 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 1081 In addition, constructor calls cannot have a nesting depth greater than the number of array components in the type of the initialized object, plus one. 580 581 In addition, constructor calls do not support unnamed nesting. 582 \begin{cfacode} 583 struct B { int x; }; 584 struct C { int y; }; 585 struct A { B b; C c; }; 586 void ?{}(A *, B); 587 void ?{}(A *, C); 588 589 A a = { 590 { 10 }, // construct B? - invalid 591 }; 592 \end{cfacode} 593 In C, nesting initializers means that the programmer intends to initialize sub-objects with the nested initializers. 594 The reason for this omission is to both simplify the mental model for using constructors, and to make initialization simpler for the expression resolver. 595 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. 596 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@. 597 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. 598 599 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. 1082 600 For example, 1083 601 \begin{cfacode} … … 1096 614 } 1097 615 \end{cfacode} 1098 % TODO: in CFA if the array dimension is empty, no object constructors are added -- need to fix this.1099 616 The body of @A@ has been omitted, since only the constructor interfaces are important. 1100 In C, having a greater nesting depth means that the programmer intends to initialize subobjects with the nested initializer. 1101 The reason for this omission is to both simplify the mental model for using constructors, and to make initialization simpler for the expression resolver. 1102 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. 1103 That 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)@. 1104 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. 617 1105 618 It should be noted that unmanaged objects can still make use of designations and nested initializers in \CFA. 619 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. 1106 620 1107 621 \subsection{Implicit Destructors} … … 1127 641 if (i == 2) return; // destruct x, y 1128 642 } // destruct y 1129 } 1130 \end{cfacode} 1131 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} 643 } // destruct x 644 \end{cfacode} 1172 645 1173 646 The next example illustrates the use of simple continue and break statements and the manner that they interact with implicit destructors. … … 1183 656 \end{cfacode} 1184 657 Since 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. 1185 In the case where @i@ is @2@, the continue statement runs the loop update expression and attemp s to begin the next iteration of the loop.1186 Since continue is a C statement, which does not understand destructors, a destructor call is added just before the continue statementto ensure that @x@ is destructed.658 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. 659 Since continue is a C statement, which does not understand destructors, it is transformed into a @goto@ statement that branches to the end of the loop, just before the block's destructors, to ensure that @x@ is destructed. 1187 660 When @i@ is @3@, the break statement moves control to just past the end of the loop. 1188 Like the previous case,a destructor call for @x@ is inserted just before the break statement.1189 1190 \CFA also supports label led break and continue statements, which allow more precise manipulation of control flow.1191 Label led break and continue allow the programmer to specify which control structure to target by using a label attached to a control structure.661 Unlike the previous case, the destructor for @x@ cannot be reused, so a destructor call for @x@ is inserted just before the break statement. 662 663 \CFA also supports labeled break and continue statements, which allow more precise manipulation of control flow. 664 Labeled break and continue allow the programmer to specify which control structure to target by using a label attached to a control structure. 1192 665 \begin{cfacode}[emph={L1,L2}, emphstyle=\color{red}] 1193 666 L1: for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { 1194 667 A x; 1195 L2:for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {668 for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) { 1196 669 A y; 1197 if (j == 0) { 1198 continue; // destruct y 1199 } else if (j == 1) { 1200 break; // destruct y 1201 } else if (i == 1) { 670 if (i == 1) { 1202 671 continue L1; // destruct y 1203 672 } else if (i == 2) { … … 1208 677 \end{cfacode} 1209 678 The statement @continue L1@ begins the next iteration of the outer for-loop. 1210 Since 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@.1211 Break, 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.679 Since the semantics of continue require the loop update expression to execute, control branches to the 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@. 680 Break, on the other hand, requires jumping out of both loops, so the destructors for both @x@ and @y@ are generated and inserted before the @break L1@ statement. 1212 681 1213 682 Finally, an example which demonstrates goto. … … 1256 725 } 1257 726 \end{cfacode} 1258 Labelled break and continue are implemented in \CFA in terms of goto statements, so the more constrained forms are precisely goverened by these rules.727 All break and continue statements are implemented in \CFA in terms of goto statements, so the more constrained forms are precisely governed by these rules. 1259 728 1260 729 The next example demonstrates the error case. … … 1273 742 1274 743 \subsection{Implicit Copy Construction} 744 \label{s:implicit_copy_construction} 1275 745 When a function is called, the arguments supplied to the call are subject to implicit copy construction (and destruction of the generated temporary), and the return value is subject to destruction. 1276 746 When a value is returned from a function, the copy constructor is called to pass the value back to the call site. 1277 Exempt from these rules are intrinsic and built in functions.747 Exempt from these rules are intrinsic and built-in functions. 1278 748 It 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. 749 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. 1279 750 This 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. 1280 751 \begin{cfacode} … … 1284 755 void ^?{}(A *); 1285 756 1286 A f(A x) {1287 return x; 757 A identity(A x) { // pass by value => need local copy 758 return x; // return by value => make call-site copy 1288 759 } 1289 760 1290 761 A y, z @= {}; 1291 identity(y); 1292 identity(z); 762 identity(y); // copy construct y into x 763 identity(z); // copy construct z into x 1293 764 \end{cfacode} 1294 765 Note that @z@ is copy constructed into a temporary variable to be passed as an argument, which is also destructed after the call. 1295 A 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.1296 766 1297 767 This generates the following 1298 768 \begin{cfacode} 1299 769 struct A f(struct A x){ 1300 struct A _retval_f; 1301 ?{}((&_retval_f), x); 770 struct A _retval_f; // return value 771 ?{}((&_retval_f), x); // copy construct return value 1302 772 return _retval_f; 1303 773 } 1304 774 1305 775 struct A y; 1306 ?{}(&y); 1307 struct A z = { 0 }; 1308 1309 struct A _tmp_cp1; // argument 1 1310 struct 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 1315 struct A _tmp_cp2; // argument 1 1316 struct 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 1 776 ?{}(&y); // default construct 777 struct A z = { 0 }; // C default 778 779 struct A _tmp_cp1; // argument 1 780 struct A _tmp_cp_ret0; // return value 781 _tmp_cp_ret0=f( 782 (?{}(&_tmp_cp1, y) , _tmp_cp1) // argument is a comma expression 783 ), _tmp_cp_ret0; // return value for cascading 784 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp_ret0); // destruct return value 785 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp1); // destruct argument 1 786 787 struct A _tmp_cp2; // argument 1 788 struct A _tmp_cp_ret1; // return value 789 _tmp_cp_ret1=f( 790 (?{}(&_tmp_cp2, z), _tmp_cp2) // argument is a common expression 791 ), _tmp_cp_ret1; // return value for cascading 792 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp_ret1); // destruct return value 793 ^?{}(&_tmp_cp2); // destruct argument 1 1320 794 ^?{}(&y); 1321 795 \end{cfacode} 1322 796 1323 A 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. 1324 Specifically, 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. 797 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. 798 \begin{cfacode} 799 identity(z@); // do not copy construct argument 800 // - will copy construct/destruct return value 801 A@ identity_nocopy(A @ x) { // argument not copy constructed or destructed 802 return x; // not copy constructed 803 // return type marked @ => not destructed 804 } 805 \end{cfacode} 806 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. 807 808 A known issue with this implementation is that the argument and return value temporaries are not guaranteed to have the same address for their entire lifetimes. 809 In the previous example, 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. 1325 810 This approach works out most of the time, because typically destructors need to only access the fields of the object and recursively destroy. 1326 It is currently the case that constructors and destructors which use the @this@ pointer as a unique identifier to store data externally willnot work correctly for return value objects.1327 Thus is itnot safe to rely on an object's @this@ pointer to remain constant throughout execution of the program.811 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. 812 Thus, it is currently not safe to rely on an object's @this@ pointer to remain constant throughout execution of the program. 1328 813 \begin{cfacode} 1329 814 A * external_data[32]; … … 1341 826 } 1342 827 } 828 829 A makeA() { 830 A x; // stores &x in external_data 831 return x; 832 } 833 makeA(); // return temporary has a different address than x 834 // equivalent to: 835 // A _tmp; 836 // _tmp = makeA(), _tmp; 837 // ^?{}(&_tmp); 1343 838 \end{cfacode} 1344 839 In the above example, a global array of pointers is used to keep track of all of the allocated @A@ objects. 1345 Due 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 1347 This problem could be solved in the translator by mutating the function signatures so that the return value is moved into the parameter list.840 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, such as in @makeA@. 841 842 This problem could be solved in the translator by changing the function signatures so that the return value is moved into the parameter list. 1348 843 For example, the translator could restructure the code like so 1349 844 \begin{cfacode} … … 1363 858 \end{cfacode} 1364 859 This transformation provides @f@ with the address of the return variable so that it can be constructed into directly. 1365 It is worth pointing out that this kind of signature rewriting already occurs in polymorphic functions whichreturn by value, as discussed in \cite{Bilson03}.860 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}. 1366 861 A 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. 1367 862 \begin{cfacode} 1368 863 struct A { int v; }; 1369 A x; // unmanaged 864 A x; // unmanaged, since only trivial constructors are available 1370 865 { 1371 866 void ?{}(A * a) { ... } … … 1375 870 A z; // unmanaged 1376 871 \end{cfacode} 1377 Hence there is not enough information to determine at function declaration to determinewhether 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.872 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. 1378 873 Even 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. 1379 Furthermore, it is n't possible to overload C functions, so using @extern "C"@ to declare functions is of limited use.1380 1381 It would be possible to regain some control by adding an attribute to structs whichspecifies 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.874 Furthermore, it is not possible to overload C functions, so using @extern "C"@ to declare functions is of limited use. 875 876 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. 1382 877 Ideally, structs should be manageable by default, since otherwise the default case becomes more verbose. 1383 878 This means that in general, function signatures would have to be rewritten, and in a select few cases the signatures would not be rewritten. … … 1392 887 \end{cfacode} 1393 888 An alternative is to instead make the attribute \emph{identifiable}, which states that objects of this type use the @this@ parameter as an identity. 1394 This strikes more closely to the visib ile problem, in that only types marked as identifiable would need to have the return value moved into the parameter list, and every other type could remain the same.889 This strikes more closely to the visible problem, in that only types marked as identifiable would need to have the return value moved into the parameter list, and every other type could remain the same. 1395 890 Furthermore, no restrictions would need to be placed on whether objects can be constructed. 1396 891 \begin{cfacode} … … 1402 897 \end{cfacode} 1403 898 1404 Ultimately, this is the type of transformation that a real compiler would make when generating assembly code.1405 Since a compiler has full control over its calling conventions, it can seamlessly allow passing the return parameter without outwardly changing the signature of a routine.1406 As such, it has been decided that this issue is not currently a priority .899 Ultimately, both of these are patchwork solutions. 900 Since a real compiler has full control over its calling conventions, it can seamlessly allow passing the return parameter without outwardly changing the signature of a routine. 901 As such, it has been decided that this issue is not currently a priority and will be fixed when a full \CFA compiler is implemented. 1407 902 1408 903 \section{Implementation} 1409 904 \subsection{Array Initialization} 1410 Arrays are a special case in the C type 905 Arrays are a special case in the C type-system. 1411 906 C 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. 1412 907 Instead, \CFA defines the initialization and destruction of an array recursively. … … 1525 1020 By default, objects within a translation unit are constructed in declaration order, and destructed in the reverse order. 1526 1021 The 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 basis1528 % https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/C_002b_002b-Attributes.html#C_002b_002b-Attributes1529 % 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 level1530 1022 It is, however, guaranteed that any global objects in the standard library are initialized prior to the initialization of any object in the user program. 1531 1023 1532 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 . % CITE: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Common-Function-Attributes.html#Common-Function-Attributes1024 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 \cite[6.31.1]{GCCExtensions}. 1533 1025 A similar function is generated with the \emph{destructor} attribute, which handles all global destructor calls. 1534 1026 At 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. 1535 This mechanism allows arbitrarily complicated initialization to occur before any user code runs, making it possible for library designers to initialize their modules without requiring the user to call specific startup or tear down routines.1027 This mechanism allows arbitrarily complicated initialization to occur before any user code runs, making it possible for library designers to initialize their modules without requiring the user to call specific startup or tear-down routines. 1536 1028 1537 1029 For example, given the following global declarations. … … 1559 1051 \end{cfacode} 1560 1052 1053 % https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/C_002b_002b-Attributes.html#C_002b_002b-Attributes 1054 % 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 1055 GCC provides an attribute @init_priority@, which allows specifying the relative priority for initialization of global objects on a per-object basis in \CC. 1056 A similar attribute can be implemented in \CFA by pulling marked objects into global constructor/destructor-attribute functions with the specified priority. 1057 For example, 1058 \begin{cfacode} 1059 struct A { ... }; 1060 void ?{}(A *, int); 1061 void ^?{}(A *); 1062 __attribute__((init_priority(200))) A x = { 123 }; 1063 \end{cfacode} 1064 would generate 1065 \begin{cfacode} 1066 A x; 1067 __attribute__((constructor(200))) __init_x() { 1068 ?{}(&x, 123); // construct x with priority 200 1069 } 1070 __attribute__((destructor(200))) __destroy_x() { 1071 ?{}(&x); // destruct x with priority 200 1072 } 1073 \end{cfacode} 1074 1561 1075 \subsection{Static Local Variables} 1562 1076 In standard C, it is possible to mark variables that are local to a function with the @static@ storage class. 1563 Unlike 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??1564 Much 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.1077 Unlike 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. 1078 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. 1565 1079 1566 1080 Yet again, this rule is too restrictive for a language with constructors and destructors. … … 1573 1087 Construction of @static@ local objects is implemented via an accompanying @static bool@ variable, which records whether the variable has already been constructed. 1574 1088 A conditional branch checks the value of the companion @bool@, and if the variable has not yet been constructed then the object is constructed. 1575 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 willnot reconstruct the object.1089 The object's destructor is scheduled to be run when the program terminates using @atexit@ \footnote{When using the dynamic linker, it is possible to dynamically load and unload a shared library. Since glibc 2.2.3 \cite{atexit}, functions registered with @atexit@ within the shared library are called when unloading the shared library. As such, static local objects can be destructed using this mechanism even in shared libraries on Linux systems.}, and the companion @bool@'s value is set so that subsequent invocations of the function do not reconstruct the object. 1576 1090 Since the parameter to @atexit@ is a parameter-less function, some additional tweaking is required. 1577 1091 First, the @static@ variable must be hoisted up to global scope and uniquely renamed to prevent name clashes with other global objects. … … 1579 1093 Finally, the newly generated function is registered with @atexit@, instead of registering the destructor directly. 1580 1094 Since @atexit@ calls functions in the reverse order in which they are registered, @static@ local variables are guaranteed to be destructed in the reverse order that they are constructed, which may differ between multiple executions of the same program. 1581 1582 1095 Extending the previous example 1583 1096 \begin{cfacode} … … 1630 1143 \end{cfacode} 1631 1144 1632 \subsection{Constructor Expressions} 1633 In \CFA, it is possible to use a constructor as an expression. 1634 Like other operators, the function name @?{}@ matches its operator syntax. 1635 For example, @(&x){}@ calls the default constructor on the variable @x@, and produces @&x@ as a result. 1636 The 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. 1637 A key example is the use of constructor expressions to initialize the result of a call to standard C routine @malloc@. 1638 \begin{cfacode} 1639 struct X { ... }; 1640 void ?{}(X *, double); 1641 X * x = malloc(sizeof(X)){ 1.5 }; 1642 \end{cfacode} 1643 In this example, @malloc@ dynamically allocates storage and initializes it using a constructor, all before assigning it into the variable @x@. 1644 If this extension is not present, constructing dynamically allocated objects is much more cumbersome, requiring separate initialization of the pointer and initialization of the pointed-to memory. 1645 \begin{cfacode} 1646 X * x = malloc(sizeof(X)); 1647 x{ 1.5 }; 1648 \end{cfacode} 1649 Not only is this verbose, but it is also more error prone, since this form allows maintenance code to easily sneak in between the initialization of @x@ and the initialization of the memory that @x@ points to. 1650 This feature is implemented via a transformation produceing the value of the first argument of the constructor, since constructors do not themslves have a return value. 1651 Since this transformation results in two instances of the subexpression, care is taken to allocate a temporary variable to hold the result of the subexpression in the case where the subexpression may contain side effects. 1652 The previous example generates the following code. 1653 \begin{cfacode} 1654 struct X *_tmp_ctor; 1655 struct X *x = ?{}((_tmp_ctor=((_tmp_cp_ret0= 1656 malloc(sizeof(struct X))), _tmp_cp_ret0))), 1.5), _tmp_ctor); 1657 \end{cfacode} 1658 It should be noted that this technique is not exclusive to @malloc@, and allows a user to write a custom allocator that can be idiomatically used in much the same way as a constructed @malloc@ call. 1659 1660 It is also possible to use operator syntax with destructors. 1661 Unlike constructors, operator syntax with destructors is a statement and thus does not produce a value, since the destructed object is invalidated by the use of a destructor. 1662 For example, \lstinline!^(&x){}! calls the destructor on the variable @x@. 1145 \subsection{Polymorphism} 1146 As mentioned in section \ref{sub:polymorphism}, \CFA currently has 3 type-classes that are used to designate polymorphic data types: @otype@, @dtype@, and @ftype@. 1147 In previous versions of \CFA, @otype@ was syntactic sugar for @dtype@ with known size/alignment information and an assignment function. 1148 That is, 1149 \begin{cfacode} 1150 forall(otype T) 1151 void f(T); 1152 \end{cfacode} 1153 was equivalent to 1154 \begin{cfacode} 1155 forall(dtype T | sized(T) | { T ?=?(T *, T); }) 1156 void f(T); 1157 \end{cfacode} 1158 This allows easily specifying constraints that are common to all complete object types very simply. 1159 1160 Now that \CFA has constructors and destructors, more of a complete object's behaviour can be specified by than was previously possible. 1161 As such, @otype@ has been augmented to include assertions for a default constructor, copy constructor, and destructor. 1162 That is, the previous example is now equivalent to 1163 \begin{cfacode} 1164 forall(dtype T | sized(T) | { T ?=?(T *, T); void ?{}(T *); void ?{}(T *, T); void ^?{}(T *); }) 1165 void f(T); 1166 \end{cfacode} 1167 This allows @f@'s body to create and destroy objects of type @T@, and pass objects of type @T@ as arguments to other functions, following the normal \CFA rules. 1168 A point of note here is that objects can be missing default constructors (and eventually other functions through deleted functions), so it is important for \CFA programmers to think carefully about the operations needed by their function, as to not over-constrain the acceptable parameter types. -
doc/rob_thesis/intro.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 5 5 \section{\CFA Background} 6 6 \label{s:background} 7 \CFA is a modernextension to the C programming language.7 \CFA \footnote{Pronounced ``C-for-all'', and written \CFA or Cforall.} is a modern non-object-oriented extension to the C programming language. 8 8 As it is an extension of C, there is already a wealth of existing C code and principles that govern the design of the language. 9 9 Among the goals set out in the original design of \CFA, four points stand out \cite{Bilson03}. … … 16 16 Therefore, these design principles must be kept in mind throughout the design and development of new language features. 17 17 In order to appeal to existing C programmers, great care must be taken to ensure that new features naturally feel like C. 18 The remainder of this section describes some of the important new features that currently exist in \CFA, to give the reader the necessary context in which the new features presented in this thesis must dovetail. % TODO: harmonize with?18 The remainder of this section describes some of the important new features that currently exist in \CFA, to give the reader the necessary context in which the new features presented in this thesis must dovetail. 19 19 20 20 \subsection{C Background} … … 29 29 A a1 = { 1, .y:7, 6 }; 30 30 A a2[4] = { [2]:a0, [0]:a1, { .z:3 } }; 31 // equ vialent to31 // equivalent to 32 32 // A a0 = { 0, 8, 0, 1 }; 33 33 // A a1 = { 1, 0, 7, 6 }; … … 36 36 Designations allow specifying the field to initialize by name, rather than by position. 37 37 Any field not explicitly initialized is initialized as if it had static storage duration \cite[p.~141]{C11}. 38 A designator specifies the current object for initialization, and as such any undesignated sub objects pick up where the last initialization left off.39 For example, in the initialization of @a1@, the initializer of @y@ is @7@, and the unnamed initializer @6@ initializes the next sub object, @z@.40 Later initializers override earlier initializers, so a sub object for which there is more than one initializer is only initailized by its last initializer.41 Th is can be seen in the initialization of @a0@, where @x@ is designated twice, and thus initialized to @8@.42 Note that in \CFA, designations use a colon separator, rather than an equals sign as in C .38 A designator specifies the current object for initialization, and as such any undesignated sub-objects pick up where the last initialization left off. 39 For example, in the initialization of @a1@, the initializer of @y@ is @7@, and the unnamed initializer @6@ initializes the next sub-object, @z@. 40 Later initializers override earlier initializers, so a sub-object for which there is more than one initializer is only initialized by its last initializer. 41 These semantics can be seen in the initialization of @a0@, where @x@ is designated twice, and thus initialized to @8@. 42 Note that in \CFA, designations use a colon separator, rather than an equals sign as in C, because this syntax is one of the few places that conflicts with the new language features. 43 43 44 44 C also provides \emph{compound literal} expressions, which provide a first-class mechanism for creating unnamed objects. … … 91 91 92 92 There are times when a function should logically return multiple values. 93 Since a function in standard C can only return a single value, a programmer must either take in additional return values by address, or the function's designer must create a wrapper structure t 0package multiple return-values.93 Since a function in standard C can only return a single value, a programmer must either take in additional return values by address, or the function's designer must create a wrapper structure to package multiple return-values. 94 94 \begin{cfacode} 95 95 int f(int * ret) { // returns a value through parameter ret … … 102 102 \end{cfacode} 103 103 The former solution is awkward because it requires the caller to explicitly allocate memory for $n$ result variables, even if they are only temporary values used as a subexpression, or even not used at all. 104 The latter approach: 104 105 \begin{cfacode} 105 106 struct A { … … 112 113 ... res3.x ... res3.y ... // use result values 113 114 \end{cfacode} 114 The latter approachrequires the caller to either learn the field names of the structure or learn the names of helper routines to access the individual return values.115 requires the caller to either learn the field names of the structure or learn the names of helper routines to access the individual return values. 115 116 Both solutions are syntactically unnatural. 116 117 117 In \CFA, it is possible to directly declare a function returning mu tliple values.118 This provides important semantic information to the caller, since return values are only for output.119 \begin{cfacode} 120 [int, int] f() { // don't need to create anew type118 In \CFA, it is possible to directly declare a function returning multiple values. 119 This extension provides important semantic information to the caller, since return values are only for output. 120 \begin{cfacode} 121 [int, int] f() { // no new type 121 122 return [123, 37]; 122 123 } 123 124 \end{cfacode} 124 However, the ability to return multiple values requires a syntax for accepting the results from a function. 125 However, the ability to return multiple values is useless without a syntax for accepting the results from the function. 126 125 127 In standard C, return values are most commonly assigned directly into local variables, or are used as the arguments to another function call. 126 128 \CFA allows both of these contexts to accept multiple return values. … … 148 150 g(f()); // selects (2) 149 151 \end{cfacode} 150 In this example, the only possible call to @f@ that can produce the two @int@s required by @g@ is the second option.151 A similar reasoning holds for assigning into multiple variables.152 In this example, the only possible call to @f@ that can produce the two @int@s required for assigning into the variables @x@ and @y@ is the second option. 153 A similar reasoning holds calling the function @g@. 152 154 153 155 In \CFA, overloading also applies to operator names, known as \emph{operator overloading}. … … 166 168 bool ?<?(A x, A y); 167 169 \end{cfacode} 168 Notably, the only difference i n this example is syntax.170 Notably, the only difference is syntax. 169 171 Most of the operators supported by \CC for operator overloading are also supported in \CFA. 170 172 Of notable exception are the logical operators (e.g. @||@), the sequence operator (i.e. @,@), and the member-access operators (e.g. @.@ and \lstinline{->}). … … 172 174 Finally, \CFA also permits overloading variable identifiers. 173 175 This feature is not available in \CC. 174 \begin{cfacode} % TODO: pick something better than x? max, zero, one?176 \begin{cfacode} 175 177 struct Rational { int numer, denom; }; 176 178 int x = 3; // (1) … … 186 188 In this example, there are three definitions of the variable @x@. 187 189 Based on the context, \CFA attempts to choose the variable whose type best matches the expression context. 190 When used judiciously, this feature allows names like @MAX@, @MIN@, and @PI@ to apply across many types. 188 191 189 192 Finally, the values @0@ and @1@ have special status in standard C. … … 197 200 } 198 201 \end{cfacode} 199 Every if 202 Every if- and iteration-statement in C compares the condition with @0@, and every increment and decrement operator is semantically equivalent to adding or subtracting the value @1@ and storing the result. 200 203 Due to these rewrite rules, the values @0@ and @1@ have the types \zero and \one in \CFA, which allow for overloading various operations that connect to @0@ and @1@ \footnote{In the original design of \CFA, @0@ and @1@ were overloadable names \cite[p.~7]{cforall}.}. 201 The types \zero and \one have special built 204 The types \zero and \one have special built-in implicit conversions to the various integral types, and a conversion to pointer types for @0@, which allows standard C code involving @0@ and @1@ to work as normal. 202 205 \begin{cfacode} 203 206 // lvalue is similar to returning a reference in C++ … … 293 296 This capability allows specifying the same set of assertions in multiple locations, without the repetition and likelihood of mistakes that come with manually writing them out for each function declaration. 294 297 298 An interesting application of return-type resolution and polymorphism is with type-safe @malloc@. 299 \begin{cfacode} 300 forall(dtype T | sized(T)) 301 T * malloc() { 302 return (T*)malloc(sizeof(T)); // call C malloc 303 } 304 int * x = malloc(); // malloc(sizeof(int)) 305 double * y = malloc(); // malloc(sizeof(double)) 306 307 struct S { ... }; 308 S * s = malloc(); // malloc(sizeof(S)) 309 \end{cfacode} 310 The built-in trait @sized@ ensures that size and alignment information for @T@ is available in the body of @malloc@ through @sizeof@ and @_Alignof@ expressions respectively. 311 In calls to @malloc@, the type @T@ is bound based on call-site information, allowing \CFA code to allocate memory without the potential for errors introduced by manually specifying the size of the allocated block. 312 295 313 \section{Invariants} 296 % TODO: discuss software engineering benefits of ctor/dtors: {pre/post} conditions, invariants 297 % an important invariant is the state of the environment (memory, resources) 298 % some objects pass their contract to the object user 299 An \emph{invariant} is a logical assertion that true for some duration of a program's execution. 314 An \emph{invariant} is a logical assertion that is true for some duration of a program's execution. 300 315 Invariants help a programmer to reason about code correctness and prove properties of programs. 301 316 302 317 In object-oriented programming languages, type invariants are typically established in a constructor and maintained throughout the object's lifetime. 303 Th is istypically achieved through a combination of access control modifiers and a restricted interface.318 These assertions are typically achieved through a combination of access control modifiers and a restricted interface. 304 319 Typically, data which requires the maintenance of an invariant is hidden from external sources using the \emph{private} modifier, which restricts reads and writes to a select set of trusted routines, including member functions. 305 320 It is these trusted routines that perform all modifications to internal data in a way that is consistent with the invariant, by ensuring that the invariant holds true at the end of the routine call. … … 307 322 In C, the @assert@ macro is often used to ensure invariants are true. 308 323 Using @assert@, the programmer can check a condition and abort execution if the condition is not true. 309 This is a powerful tool thatforces the programmer to deal with logical inconsistencies as they occur.324 This powerful tool forces the programmer to deal with logical inconsistencies as they occur. 310 325 For production, assertions can be removed by simply defining the preprocessor macro @NDEBUG@, making it simple to ensure that assertions are 0-cost for a performance intensive application. 311 326 \begin{cfacode} … … 354 369 \end{dcode} 355 370 The D compiler is able to assume that assertions and invariants hold true and perform optimizations based on those assumptions. 356 357 An important invariant is the state of the execution environment, including the heap, the open file table, the state of global variables, etc. 358 Since resources are finite, it is important to ensure that objects clean up properly when they are finished, restoring the execution environment to a stable state so that new objects can reuse resources. 371 Note, these invariants are internal to the type's correct behaviour. 372 373 Types also have external invariants with the state of the execution environment, including the heap, the open-file table, the state of global variables, etc. 374 Since resources are finite and shared (concurrency), it is important to ensure that objects clean up properly when they are finished, restoring the execution environment to a stable state so that new objects can reuse resources. 359 375 360 376 \section{Resource Management} … … 366 382 The program stack grows and shrinks automatically with each function call, as needed for local variables. 367 383 However, whenever a program needs a variable to outlive the block it is created in, the storage must be allocated dynamically with @malloc@ and later released with @free@. 368 This pattern is extended to more complex objects, such as files and sockets, which also outlive the block where they are created, but at their core isresource management.369 Once allocated storage escapes a block, the responsibility for deallocating the storage is not specified in a function's type, that is, that the return value is owned by the caller.384 This pattern is extended to more complex objects, such as files and sockets, which can also outlive the block where they are created, and thus require their own resource management. 385 Once allocated storage escapes\footnote{In garbage collected languages, such as Java, escape analysis \cite{Choi:1999:EAJ:320385.320386} is used to determine when dynamically allocated objects are strictly contained within a function, which allows the optimizer to allocate them on the stack.} a block, the responsibility for deallocating the storage is not specified in a function's type, that is, that the return value is owned by the caller. 370 386 This implicit convention is provided only through documentation about the expectations of functions. 371 387 372 388 In other languages, a hybrid situation exists where resources escape the allocation block, but ownership is precisely controlled by the language. 373 This pattern requires a strict interface and protocol for a data structure, where the protocol consistsof a pre-initialization and a post-termination call, and all intervening access is done via interface routines.374 This kind of encapsulation is popular in object-oriented programming languages, and like the stack, it containsa significant portion of resource management cases.389 This pattern requires a strict interface and protocol for a data structure, consisting of a pre-initialization and a post-termination call, and all intervening access is done via interface routines. 390 This kind of encapsulation is popular in object-oriented programming languages, and like the stack, it takes care of a significant portion of resource management cases. 375 391 376 392 For example, \CC directly supports this pattern through class types and an idiom known as RAII \footnote{Resource Acquisition is Initialization} by means of constructors and destructors. … … 380 396 On the other hand, destructors provide a simple mechanism for tearing down an object and resetting the environment in which the object lived. 381 397 RAII ensures that if all resources are acquired in a constructor and released in a destructor, there are no resource leaks, even in exceptional circumstances. 382 A type with at least one non-trivial constructor or destructor will henceforth bereferred to as a \emph{managed type}.383 In the context of \CFA, a non-trivial constructor is either a user defined constructor or an auto 384 385 For the remaining resource ownership cases, programmer must follow a brittle, explicit protocol for freeing resources or an implicit p orotocol implemented via the programming language.398 A type with at least one non-trivial constructor or destructor is henceforth referred to as a \emph{managed type}. 399 In the context of \CFA, a non-trivial constructor is either a user defined constructor or an auto-generated constructor that calls a non-trivial constructor. 400 401 For the remaining resource ownership cases, programmer must follow a brittle, explicit protocol for freeing resources or an implicit protocol implemented via the programming language. 386 402 387 403 In garbage collected languages, such as Java, resources are largely managed by the garbage collector. … … 389 405 There are many kinds of resources that the garbage collector does not understand, such as sockets, open files, and database connections. 390 406 In particular, Java supports \emph{finalizers}, which are similar to destructors. 391 Sadly, finalizers come with far fewer guarantees, to the point where a completely conforming JVM may never call a single finalizer. % TODO: citation JVM spec; http://stackoverflow.com/a/2506514/2386739392 Due to operating system resource limits, this is unacceptable for many long running tasks. % TODO: citation?393 Instead, the paradigm in Java requires programmers manually keep track of all resource\emph{except} memory, leading many novices and experts alike to forget to close files, etc.394 Complicating the picture, uncaught exceptions can cause control flow to change dramatically, leaking a resource which appears on first glance to be closed.407 Sadly, finalizers are only guaranteed to be called before an object is reclaimed by the garbage collector \cite[p.~373]{Java8}, which may not happen if memory use is not contentious. 408 Due to operating-system resource-limits, this is unacceptable for many long running programs. 409 Instead, the paradigm in Java requires programmers to manually keep track of all resources \emph{except} memory, leading many novices and experts alike to forget to close files, etc. 410 Complicating the picture, uncaught exceptions can cause control flow to change dramatically, leaking a resource that appears on first glance to be released. 395 411 \begin{javacode} 396 412 void write(String filename, String msg) throws Exception { … … 403 419 } 404 420 \end{javacode} 405 Any line in this program can throw an exception. 406 This leads to a profusion of finally blocks around many function bodies, since it isn't always clear when an exception may be thrown. 421 Any line in this program can throw an exception, which leads to a profusion of finally blocks around many function bodies, since it is not always clear when an exception may be thrown. 407 422 \begin{javacode} 408 423 public void write(String filename, String msg) throws Exception { … … 422 437 \end{javacode} 423 438 In Java 7, a new \emph{try-with-resources} construct was added to alleviate most of the pain of working with resources, but ultimately it still places the burden squarely on the user rather than on the library designer. 424 Furthermore, for complete safety this pattern requires nested objects to be declared separately, otherwise resources which can throw an exception on close can leak nested resources. % TODO: cite oracle article http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/java/trywithresources-401775.html?439 Furthermore, for complete safety this pattern requires nested objects to be declared separately, otherwise resources that can throw an exception on close can leak nested resources \cite{TryWithResources}. 425 440 \begin{javacode} 426 441 public void write(String filename, String msg) throws Exception { 427 try ( 442 try ( // try-with-resources 428 443 FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(filename); 429 444 FileOutputStream log = new FileOutputStream("log.txt"); … … 434 449 } 435 450 \end{javacode} 436 On the other hand, the Java compiler generates more code if more resources are declared, meaning that users must be more familiar with each type and library designers must provide better documentation. 451 Variables declared as part of a try-with-resources statement must conform to the @AutoClosable@ interface, and the compiler implicitly calls @close@ on each of the variables at the end of the block. 452 Depending on when the exception is raised, both @out@ and @log@ are null, @log@ is null, or both are non-null, therefore, the cleanup for these variables at the end is appropriately guarded and conditionally executed to prevent null-pointer exceptions. 453 454 While Rust \cite{Rust} does not enforce the use of a garbage collector, it does provide a manual memory management environment, with a strict ownership model that automatically frees allocated memory and prevents common memory management errors. 455 In particular, a variable has ownership over its associated value, which is freed automatically when the owner goes out of scope. 456 Furthermore, values are \emph{moved} by default on assignment, rather than copied, which invalidates the previous variable binding. 457 \begin{rustcode} 458 struct S { 459 x: i32 460 } 461 let s = S { x: 123 }; 462 let z = s; // move, invalidate s 463 println!("{}", s.x); // error, s has been moved 464 \end{rustcode} 465 Types can be made copyable by implementing the @Copy@ trait. 466 467 Rust allows multiple unowned views into an object through references, also known as borrows, provided that a reference does not outlive its referent. 468 A mutable reference is allowed only if it is the only reference to its referent, preventing data race errors and iterator invalidation errors. 469 \begin{rustcode} 470 let mut x = 10; 471 { 472 let y = &x; 473 let z = &x; 474 println!("{} {}", y, z); // prints 10 10 475 } 476 { 477 let y = &mut x; 478 // let z1 = &x; // not allowed, have mutable reference 479 // let z2 = &mut x; // not allowed, have mutable reference 480 *y = 5; 481 println!("{}", y); // prints 5 482 } 483 println!("{}", x); // prints 5 484 \end{rustcode} 485 Since references are not owned, they do not release resources when they go out of scope. 486 There is no runtime cost imposed on these restrictions, since they are enforced at compile-time. 487 488 Rust provides RAII through the @Drop@ trait, allowing arbitrary code to execute when the object goes out of scope, allowing Rust programs to automatically clean up auxiliary resources much like a \CC program. 489 \begin{rustcode} 490 struct S { 491 name: &'static str 492 } 493 494 impl Drop for S { // RAII for S 495 fn drop(&mut self) { 496 println!("dropped {}", self.name); 497 } 498 } 499 500 { 501 let x = S { name: "x" }; 502 let y = S { name: "y" }; 503 } // prints "dropped y" "dropped x" 504 \end{rustcode} 437 505 438 506 % D has constructors and destructors that are worth a mention (under classes) https://dlang.org/spec/spec.html … … 442 510 The programming language, D, also manages resources with constructors and destructors \cite{D}. 443 511 In D, @struct@s are stack allocated and managed via scoping like in \CC, whereas @class@es are managed automatically by the garbage collector. 444 Like Java, using the garbage collector means that destructors may never be called, requiring the use of finally statements to ensure dynamically allocated resources that are not managed by the garbage collector, such as open files, are cleaned up.512 Like Java, using the garbage collector means that destructors are called indeterminately, requiring the use of finally statements to ensure dynamically allocated resources that are not managed by the garbage collector, such as open files, are cleaned up. 445 513 Since D supports RAII, it is possible to use the same techniques as in \CC to ensure that resources are released in a timely manner. 446 Finally, D provides a scope guard statement, which allows an arbitrary statement to be executed at normal scope exit with \emph{success}, at exceptional scope exit with \emph{failure}, or at normal and exceptional scope exit with \emph{exit}. % cite? https://dlang.org/spec/statement.html#ScopeGuardStatement 447 It has been shown that the \emph{exit} form of the scope guard statement can be implemented in a library in \CC. % cite: http://www.drdobbs.com/184403758 448 449 % TODO: discussion of lexical scope vs. dynamic 450 % see Peter's suggestions 451 % RAII works in both cases. Guaranteed to work in stack case, works in heap case if root is deleted (but it's dangerous to rely on this, because of exceptions) 514 Finally, D provides a scope guard statement, which allows an arbitrary statement to be executed at normal scope exit with \emph{success}, at exceptional scope exit with \emph{failure}, or at normal and exceptional scope exit with \emph{exit}. % https://dlang.org/spec/statement.html#ScopeGuardStatement 515 It has been shown that the \emph{exit} form of the scope guard statement can be implemented in a library in \CC \cite{ExceptSafe}. 516 517 To provide managed types in \CFA, new kinds of constructors and destructors are added to \CFA and discussed in Chapter 2. 452 518 453 519 \section{Tuples} 454 520 \label{s:Tuples} 455 In mathematics, tuples are finite-length sequences which, unlike sets, a llow duplicate elements.456 In programming languages, tuples are a construct thatprovide fixed-sized heterogeneous lists of elements.521 In mathematics, tuples are finite-length sequences which, unlike sets, are ordered and allow duplicate elements. 522 In programming languages, tuples provide fixed-sized heterogeneous lists of elements. 457 523 Many programming languages have tuple constructs, such as SETL, \KWC, ML, and Scala. 458 524 … … 462 528 Adding tuples to \CFA has previously been explored by Esteves \cite{Esteves04}. 463 529 464 The design of tuples in \KWC took much of its inspiration from SETL .530 The design of tuples in \KWC took much of its inspiration from SETL \cite{SETL}. 465 531 SETL is a high-level mathematical programming language, with tuples being one of the primary data types. 466 532 Tuples in SETL allow a number of operations, including subscripting, dynamic expansion, and multiple assignment. … … 470 536 \begin{cppcode} 471 537 tuple<int, int, int> triple(10, 20, 30); 472 get<1>(triple); // access component 1 => 30538 get<1>(triple); // access component 1 => 20 473 539 474 540 tuple<int, double> f(); … … 482 548 Tuples are simple data structures with few specific operations. 483 549 In particular, it is possible to access a component of a tuple using @std::get<N>@. 484 Another interesting feature is @std::tie@, which creates a tuple of references, which allows assigningthe results of a tuple-returning function into separate local variables, without requiring a temporary variable.550 Another interesting feature is @std::tie@, which creates a tuple of references, allowing assignment of the results of a tuple-returning function into separate local variables, without requiring a temporary variable. 485 551 Tuples also support lexicographic comparisons, making it simple to write aggregate comparators using @std::tie@. 486 552 487 There is a proposal for \CCseventeen called \emph{structured bindings} , that introduces new syntax to eliminate the need to pre-declare variables and use @std::tie@ for binding the results from a function call. % TODO: cite http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2015/p0144r0.pdf553 There is a proposal for \CCseventeen called \emph{structured bindings} \cite{StructuredBindings}, that introduces new syntax to eliminate the need to pre-declare variables and use @std::tie@ for binding the results from a function call. 488 554 \begin{cppcode} 489 555 tuple<int, double> f(); … … 500 566 Structured bindings allow unpacking any struct with all public non-static data members into fresh local variables. 501 567 The use of @&@ allows declaring new variables as references, which is something that cannot be done with @std::tie@, since \CC references do not support rebinding. 502 This extension requires the use of @auto@ to infer the types of the new variables, so complicated expressions with a non-obvious type must documented with some other mechanism.568 This extension requires the use of @auto@ to infer the types of the new variables, so complicated expressions with a non-obvious type must be documented with some other mechanism. 503 569 Furthermore, structured bindings are not a full replacement for @std::tie@, as it always declares new variables. 504 570 505 571 Like \CC, D provides tuples through a library variadic template struct. 506 572 In D, it is possible to name the fields of a tuple type, which creates a distinct type. 507 \begin{dcode} % TODO: cite http://dlang.org/phobos/std_typecons.html 573 % http://dlang.org/phobos/std_typecons.html 574 \begin{dcode} 508 575 Tuple!(float, "x", float, "y") point2D; 509 Tuple!(float, float) float2; // different type s576 Tuple!(float, float) float2; // different type from point2D 510 577 511 578 point2D[0]; // access first element … … 521 588 The @expand@ method produces the components of the tuple as a list of separate values, making it possible to call a function that takes $N$ arguments using a tuple with $N$ components. 522 589 523 Tuples are a fundamental abstraction in most functional programming languages, such as Standard ML .590 Tuples are a fundamental abstraction in most functional programming languages, such as Standard ML \cite{sml}. 524 591 A function in SML always accepts exactly one argument. 525 592 There are two ways to mimic multiple argument functions: the first through currying and the second by accepting tuple arguments. … … 535 602 Tuples are a foundational tool in SML, allowing the creation of arbitrarily complex structured data types. 536 603 537 Scala, like \CC, provides tuple types through the standard library .604 Scala, like \CC, provides tuple types through the standard library \cite{Scala}. 538 605 Scala provides tuples of size 1 through 22 inclusive through generic data structures. 539 606 Tuples support named access and subscript access, among a few other operations. … … 547 614 \end{scalacode} 548 615 In Scala, tuples are primarily used as simple data structures for carrying around multiple values or for returning multiple values from a function. 549 The 22-element restriction is an odd and arbitrary choice, but in practice it does n't cause problems since large tuples are uncommon.616 The 22-element restriction is an odd and arbitrary choice, but in practice it does not cause problems since large tuples are uncommon. 550 617 Subscript access is provided through the @productElement@ method, which returns a value of the top-type @Any@, since it is impossible to receive a more precise type from a general subscripting method due to type erasure. 551 618 The disparity between named access beginning at @_1@ and subscript access starting at @0@ is likewise an oddity, but subscript access is typically avoided since it discards type information. … … 553 620 554 621 555 \Csharp has similarly strange limitations, allowing tuples of size up to 7 components. % TODO: citehttps://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.tuple(v=vs.110).aspx622 \Csharp also has tuples, but has similarly strange limitations, allowing tuples of size up to 7 components. % https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.tuple(v=vs.110).aspx 556 623 The officially supported workaround for this shortcoming is to nest tuples in the 8th component. 557 624 \Csharp allows accessing a component of a tuple by using the field @Item$N$@ for components 1 through 7, and @Rest@ for the nested tuple. 558 625 559 560 % TODO: cite 5.3 https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/datastructures.html 561 In Python, tuples are immutable sequences that provide packing and unpacking operations. 626 In Python \cite{Python}, tuples are immutable sequences that provide packing and unpacking operations. 562 627 While the tuple itself is immutable, and thus does not allow the assignment of components, there is nothing preventing a component from being internally mutable. 563 628 The components of a tuple can be accessed by unpacking into multiple variables, indexing, or via field name, like D. 564 629 Tuples support multiple assignment through a combination of packing and unpacking, in addition to the common sequence operations. 565 630 566 % TODO: cite https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Types.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014097-CH31-ID448 567 Swift, like D, provides named tuples, with components accessed by name, index, or via extractors. 631 Swift \cite{Swift}, like D, provides named tuples, with components accessed by name, index, or via extractors. 568 632 Tuples are primarily used for returning multiple values from a function. 569 633 In Swift, @Void@ is an alias for the empty tuple, and there are no single element tuples. 634 635 Tuples comparable to those described above are added to \CFA and discussed in Chapter 3. 570 636 571 637 \section{Variadic Functions} … … 581 647 printf("%d %g %c %s", 10, 3.5, 'X', "a string"); 582 648 \end{cfacode} 583 Through the use of a format string, @printf@ allowsC programmers to print any of the standard C data types.649 Through the use of a format string, C programmers can communicate argument type information to @printf@, allowing C programmers to print any of the standard C data types. 584 650 Still, @printf@ is extremely limited, since the format codes are specified by the C standard, meaning users cannot define their own format codes to extend @printf@ for new data types or new formatting rules. 585 651 … … 641 707 A parameter pack matches 0 or more elements, which can be types or expressions depending on the context. 642 708 Like other templates, variadic template functions rely on an implicit set of constraints on a type, in this example a @print@ routine. 643 That is, it is possible to use the @f@ routine anyany type provided there is a corresponding @print@ routine, making variadic templates fully open to extension, unlike variadic functions in C.709 That is, it is possible to use the @f@ routine on any type provided there is a corresponding @print@ routine, making variadic templates fully open to extension, unlike variadic functions in C. 644 710 645 711 Recent \CC standards (\CCfourteen, \CCseventeen) expand on the basic premise by allowing variadic template variables and providing convenient expansion syntax to remove the need for recursion in some cases, amongst other things. … … 672 738 Unfortunately, Java's use of nominal inheritance means that types must explicitly inherit from classes or interfaces in order to be considered a subclass. 673 739 The combination of these two issues greatly restricts the usefulness of variadic functions in Java. 740 741 Type-safe variadic functions are added to \CFA and discussed in Chapter 4. -
doc/rob_thesis/thesis-frontpgs.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 76 76 \begin{center}\textbf{Abstract}\end{center} 77 77 78 % \CFA is a modern extension tothe C programming language.79 % Some of the features of \CFA include parametric polymorphism, overloading, and.80 TODO 78 \CFA is a modern, non-object-oriented extension of the C programming language. 79 This thesis introduces two fundamental language features: tuples and constructors/destructors, as well as improved variadic functions. 80 While these features exist in prior programming languages, the contribution of this work is engineering these features into a highly complex type system. 81 81 82 82 \cleardoublepage -
doc/rob_thesis/thesis.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 68 68 \documentclass[letterpaper,12pt,titlepage,oneside,final]{book} 69 69 70 % For PDF, suitable for double-sided printing, change the PrintVersion variable below 71 % to "true" and use this \documentclass line instead of the one above: 72 % \documentclass[letterpaper,12pt,titlepage,openright,twoside,final]{book} 73 70 74 \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} % allow Latin1 (extended ASCII) characters 71 75 \usepackage{textcomp} 72 76 % \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} 73 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}77 % \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc} 74 78 \usepackage{fullpage,times,comment} 75 79 % \usepackage{epic,eepic} … … 92 96 93 97 \interfootnotelinepenalty=10000 94 95 % For PDF, suitable for double-sided printing, change the PrintVersion variable below96 % to "true" and use this \documentclass line instead of the one above:97 %\documentclass[letterpaper,12pt,titlepage,openright,twoside,final]{book}98 98 99 99 % Some LaTeX commands I define for my own nomenclature. … … 225 225 \input{tuples} 226 226 227 \input{variadic} 228 227 229 \input{conclusions} 228 230 … … 282 284 \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{\textbf{References}} 283 285 284 \bibliography{cfa }286 \bibliography{cfa,thesis} 285 287 % Tip 5: You can create multiple .bib files to organize your references. 286 288 % Just list them all in the \bibliogaphy command, separated by commas (no spaces). -
doc/rob_thesis/tuples.tex
ra0fc78a rf674479 2 2 \chapter{Tuples} 3 3 %====================================================================== 4 5 \section{Introduction}6 % TODO: named return values are not currently implemented in CFA - tie in with named tuples? (future work)7 % TODO: no passing input parameters by assignment, instead will have reference types => this is not a very C-like model and greatly complicates syntax for likely little gain (and would cause confusion with already supported return-by-rerefence)8 % TODO: tuples are allowed in expressions, exact meaning is defined by operator overloading (e.g. can add tuples). An important caveat to note is that it is currently impossible to allow adding two triples but prevent adding a pair with a quadruple (single flattening/structuring conversions are implicit, only total number of components matters). May be able to solve this with more nuanced conversion rules (future work)9 % TODO: benefits (conclusion) by Till: reduced number of variables and statements; no specified order of execution for multiple assignment (more optimzation freedom); can store parameter lists in variable; MRV routines (natural code); more convenient assignment statements; simple and efficient access of record fields; named return values more legible and efficient in use of storage10 4 11 5 \section{Multiple-Return-Value Functions} … … 14 8 This restriction results in code which emulates functions with multiple return values by \emph{aggregation} or by \emph{aliasing}. 15 9 In the former situation, the function designer creates a record type that combines all of the return values into a single type. 16 For example, consider a function returning the most frequently occuring letter in a string, and its frequency. 17 % TODO: consider simplifying the example! 18 % Two things I like about this example: 19 % * it uses different types to illustrate why an array is insufficient (this is not necessary, but is nice) 20 % * it's complicated enough to show the uninitialized pitfall that exists in the aliasing example. 21 % Still, it may be a touch too complicated. Is there a simpler example with these two properties? 10 For example, consider a function returning the most frequently occurring letter in a string, and its frequency. 11 This example is complex enough to illustrate that an array is insufficient, since arrays are homogeneous, and demonstrates a potential pitfall that exists with aliasing. 22 12 \begin{cfacode} 23 13 struct mf_ret { … … 73 63 const char * str = "hello world"; 74 64 char ch; // pre-allocate return value 75 int freq = most_frequent(str, &ch); // pass return value as parameter65 int freq = most_frequent(str, &ch); // pass return value as out parameter 76 66 printf("%s -- %d %c\n", str, freq, ch); 77 67 \end{cfacode} 78 Notably, using this approach, the caller is directly responsible for allocating storage for the additional temporary return values. 79 This complicates the call site with a sequence of variable declarations leading up to the call. 68 Notably, using this approach, the caller is directly responsible for allocating storage for the additional temporary return values, which complicates the call site with a sequence of variable declarations leading up to the call. 80 69 Also, while a disciplined use of @const@ can give clues about whether a pointer parameter is going to be used as an out parameter, it is not immediately obvious from only the routine signature whether the callee expects such a parameter to be initialized before the call. 81 70 Furthermore, while many C routines that accept pointers are designed so that it is safe to pass @NULL@ as a parameter, there are many C routines that are not null-safe. … … 90 79 The expression resolution phase of the \CFA translator ensures that the correct form is used depending on the values being returned and the return type of the current function. 91 80 A multiple-returning function with return type @T@ can return any expression that is implicitly convertible to @T@. 92 Using the running example, the @most_frequent@ function can be written inusing multiple return values as such,81 Using the running example, the @most_frequent@ function can be written using multiple return values as such, 93 82 \begin{cfacode} 94 83 [int, char] most_frequent(const char * str) { … … 109 98 } 110 99 \end{cfacode} 111 This approach provides the benefits of compile-time checking for appropriate return statements as in aggregation, but without the required verbosity of declaring a new named type .100 This approach provides the benefits of compile-time checking for appropriate return statements as in aggregation, but without the required verbosity of declaring a new named type, which precludes the bug seen with out parameters. 112 101 113 102 The addition of multiple-return-value functions necessitates a syntax for accepting multiple values at the call-site. … … 136 125 In this case, there is only one option for a function named @most_frequent@ that takes a string as input. 137 126 This function returns two values, one @int@ and one @char@. 138 There are four options for a function named @process@, but only two whichaccept two arguments, and of those the best match is (3), which is also an exact match.127 There are four options for a function named @process@, but only two that accept two arguments, and of those the best match is (3), which is also an exact match. 139 128 This expression first calls @most_frequent("hello world")@, which produces the values @3@ and @'l'@, which are fed directly to the first and second parameters of (3), respectively. 140 129 … … 148 137 The previous expression has 3 \emph{components}. 149 138 Each component in a tuple expression can be any \CFA expression, including another tuple expression. 150 % TODO: Tuple expressions can appear anywhere that any other expression can appear (...?)151 139 The order of evaluation of the components in a tuple expression is unspecified, to allow a compiler the greatest flexibility for program optimization. 152 140 It is, however, guaranteed that each component of a tuple expression is evaluated for side-effects, even if the result is not used. 153 141 Multiple-return-value functions can equivalently be called \emph{tuple-returning functions}. 154 % TODO: does this statement still apply, and if so to what extent?155 % Tuples are a compile-time phenomenon and have little to no run-time presence.156 142 157 143 \subsection{Tuple Variables} … … 166 152 These variables can be used in any of the contexts where a tuple expression is allowed, such as in the @printf@ function call. 167 153 As in the @process@ example, the components of the tuple value are passed as separate parameters to @printf@, allowing very simple printing of tuple expressions. 168 If the individual components are required, they can be extractedwith a simple assignment, as in previous examples.154 One way to access the individual components is with a simple assignment, as in previous examples. 169 155 \begin{cfacode} 170 156 int freq; … … 254 240 \label{s:TupleAssignment} 255 241 An assignment where the left side of the assignment operator has a tuple type is called tuple assignment. 256 There are two kinds of tuple assignment depending on whether the right side of the assignment operator has a tuple type or a non-tuple type, called Multiple and MassAssignment, respectively.242 There are two kinds of tuple assignment depending on whether the right side of the assignment operator has a tuple type or a non-tuple type, called \emph{Multiple} and \emph{Mass} Assignment, respectively. 257 243 \begin{cfacode} 258 244 int x; … … 272 258 A mass assignment assigns the value $R$ to each $L_i$. 273 259 For a mass assignment to be valid, @?=?(&$L_i$, $R$)@ must be a well-typed expression. 274 Th is differsfrom C cascading assignment (e.g. @a=b=c@) in that conversions are applied to $R$ in each individual assignment, which prevents data loss from the chain of conversions that can happen during a cascading assignment.260 These semantics differ from C cascading assignment (e.g. @a=b=c@) in that conversions are applied to $R$ in each individual assignment, which prevents data loss from the chain of conversions that can happen during a cascading assignment. 275 261 For example, @[y, x] = 3.14@ performs the assignments @y = 3.14@ and @x = 3.14@, which results in the value @3.14@ in @y@ and the value @3@ in @x@. 276 262 On the other hand, the C cascading assignment @y = x = 3.14@ performs the assignments @x = 3.14@ and @y = x@, which results in the value @3@ in @x@, and as a result the value @3@ in @y@ as well. … … 288 274 These semantics allow cascading tuple assignment to work out naturally in any context where a tuple is permitted. 289 275 These semantics are a change from the original tuple design in \KWC \cite{Till89}, wherein tuple assignment was a statement that allows cascading assignments as a special case. 290 This decision wa made in an attemptto fix what was seen as a problem with assignment, wherein it can be used in many different locations, such as in function-call argument position.276 Restricting tuple assignment to statements was an attempt to to fix what was seen as a problem with assignment, wherein it can be used in many different locations, such as in function-call argument position. 291 277 While permitting assignment as an expression does introduce the potential for subtle complexities, it is impossible to remove assignment expressions from \CFA without affecting backwards compatibility. 292 278 Furthermore, there are situations where permitting assignment as an expression improves readability by keeping code succinct and reducing repetition, and complicating the definition of tuple assignment puts a greater cognitive burden on the user. … … 315 301 void ?{}(S *, S); // (4) 316 302 317 [S, S] x = [3, 6.28]; // uses (2), (3) 318 [S, S] y; // uses (1), (1) 319 [S, S] z = x.0; // uses (4), (4) 320 \end{cfacode} 321 In this example, @x@ is initialized by the multiple constructor calls @?{}(&x.0, 3)@ and @?{}(&x.1, 6.28)@, while @y@ is initi laized by two default constructor calls @?{}(&y.0)@ and @?{}(&y.1)@.303 [S, S] x = [3, 6.28]; // uses (2), (3), specialized constructors 304 [S, S] y; // uses (1), (1), default constructor 305 [S, S] z = x.0; // uses (4), (4), copy constructor 306 \end{cfacode} 307 In this example, @x@ is initialized by the multiple constructor calls @?{}(&x.0, 3)@ and @?{}(&x.1, 6.28)@, while @y@ is initialized by two default constructor calls @?{}(&y.0)@ and @?{}(&y.1)@. 322 308 @z@ is initialized by mass copy constructor calls @?{}(&z.0, x.0)@ and @?{}(&z.1, x.0)@. 323 309 Finally, @x@, @y@, and @z@ are destructed, i.e. the calls @^?{}(&x.0)@, @^?{}(&x.1)@, @^?{}(&y.0)@, @^?{}(&y.1)@, @^?{}(&z.0)@, and @^?{}(&z.1)@. … … 339 325 S s = t; 340 326 \end{cfacode} 341 The initialization of @s@ with @t@ works by default ,because @t@ is flattened into its components, which satisfies the generated field constructor @?{}(S *, int, double)@ to initialize the first two values.327 The initialization of @s@ with @t@ works by default because @t@ is flattened into its components, which satisfies the generated field constructor @?{}(S *, int, double)@ to initialize the first two values. 342 328 343 329 \section{Member-Access Tuple Expression} … … 354 340 Then the type of @a.[x, y, z]@ is @[T_x, T_y, T_z]@. 355 341 356 Since tuple index expressions are a form of member-access expression, it is possible to use tuple-index expressions in conjunction with member tuple expressions to manually restructure a tuple (e.g. rearrange components, drop components, duplicate components, etc.).342 Since tuple index expressions are a form of member-access expression, it is possible to use tuple-index expressions in conjunction with member tuple expressions to manually restructure a tuple (e.g., rearrange components, drop components, duplicate components, etc.). 357 343 \begin{cfacode} 358 344 [int, int, long, double] x; … … 384 370 Since \CFA permits these tuple-access expressions using structures, unions, and tuples, \emph{member tuple expression} or \emph{field tuple expression} is more appropriate. 385 371 386 It could bepossible to extend member-access expressions further.372 It is possible to extend member-access expressions further. 387 373 Currently, a member-access expression whose member is a name requires that the aggregate is a structure or union, while a constant integer member requires the aggregate to be a tuple. 388 374 In the interest of orthogonal design, \CFA could apply some meaning to the remaining combinations as well. … … 398 384 z.y; // ??? 399 385 \end{cfacode} 400 One possib lity is for @s.1@ to select the second member of @s@.386 One possibility is for @s.1@ to select the second member of @s@. 401 387 Under this interpretation, it becomes possible to not only access members of a struct by name, but also by position. 402 388 Likewise, it seems natural to open this mechanism to enumerations as well, wherein the left side would be a type, rather than an expression. 403 One benefit of this interpretation is familiar , since it is extremely reminiscent of tuple-index expressions.389 One benefit of this interpretation is familiarity, since it is extremely reminiscent of tuple-index expressions. 404 390 On the other hand, it could be argued that this interpretation is brittle in that changing the order of members or adding new members to a structure becomes a brittle operation. 405 This problem is less of a concern with tuples, since modifying a tuple affects only the code which directly uses that tuple, whereas modifying a structure has far reaching consequences withevery instance of the structure.406 407 As for @z.y@, a natural interpretation would beto extend the meaning of member tuple expressions.391 This problem is less of a concern with tuples, since modifying a tuple affects only the code that directly uses the tuple, whereas modifying a structure has far reaching consequences for every instance of the structure. 392 393 As for @z.y@, one interpretation is to extend the meaning of member tuple expressions. 408 394 That is, currently the tuple must occur as the member, i.e. to the right of the dot. 409 395 Allowing tuples to the left of the dot could distribute the member across the elements of the tuple, in much the same way that member tuple expressions distribute the aggregate across the member tuple. 410 396 In this example, @z.y@ expands to @[z.0.y, z.1.y]@, allowing what is effectively a very limited compile-time field-sections map operation, where the argument must be a tuple containing only aggregates having a member named @y@. 411 It is questionable how useful this would actually be in practice, since generally structures are not designed to have names in common with other structures, and further this could cause maintainability issues in that it encourages programmers to adopt very simple naming conventions,to maximize the amount of overlap between different types.397 It is questionable how useful this would actually be in practice, since structures often do not have names in common with other structures, and further this could cause maintainability issues in that it encourages programmers to adopt very simple naming conventions to maximize the amount of overlap between different types. 412 398 Perhaps more useful would be to allow arrays on the left side of the dot, which would likewise allow mapping a field access across the entire array, producing an array of the contained fields. 413 399 The immediate problem with this idea is that C arrays do not carry around their size, which would make it impossible to use this extension for anything other than a simple stack allocated array. 414 400 415 Supposing this feature works as described, it would be necessary to specify an ordering for the expansion of member access expressions versus membertuple expressions.401 Supposing this feature works as described, it would be necessary to specify an ordering for the expansion of member-access expressions versus member-tuple expressions. 416 402 \begin{cfacode} 417 403 struct { int x, y; }; … … 426 412 \end{cfacode} 427 413 Depending on exactly how the two tuples are combined, different results can be achieved. 428 As such, a specific ordering would need to be imposed in order for this feature to be useful. 429 Furthermore, this addition moves a member tuple expression's meaning from being clear statically to needing resolver support, since the member name needs to be distributed appropriately over each member of the tuple, which could itself be a tuple. 430 431 Ultimately, both of these extensions introduce complexity into the model, with relatively little peceived benefit. 414 As such, a specific ordering would need to be imposed to make this feature useful. 415 Furthermore, this addition moves a member-tuple expression's meaning from being clear statically to needing resolver support, since the member name needs to be distributed appropriately over each member of the tuple, which could itself be a tuple. 416 417 A second possibility is for \CFA to have named tuples, as they exist in Swift and D. 418 \begin{cfacode} 419 typedef [int x, int y] Point2D; 420 Point2D p1, p2; 421 p1.x + p1.y + p2.x + p2.y; 422 p1.0 + p1.1 + p2.0 + p2.1; // equivalent 423 \end{cfacode} 424 In this simpler interpretation, a tuple type carries with it a list of possibly empty identifiers. 425 This approach fits naturally with the named return-value feature, and would likely go a long way towards implementing it. 426 427 Ultimately, the first two extensions introduce complexity into the model, with relatively little perceived benefit, and so were dropped from consideration. 428 Named tuples are a potentially useful addition to the language, provided they can be parsed with a reasonable syntax. 429 432 430 433 431 \section{Casting} 434 432 In C, the cast operator is used to explicitly convert between types. 435 In \CFA, the cast operator has a secondary use, which is type ascription .433 In \CFA, the cast operator has a secondary use, which is type ascription, since it force the expression resolution algorithm to choose the lowest cost conversion to the target type. 436 434 That is, a cast can be used to select the type of an expression when it is ambiguous, as in the call to an overloaded function. 437 435 \begin{cfacode} … … 442 440 (int)f(); // choose (2) 443 441 \end{cfacode} 444 Since casting is a fundamental operation in \CFA, casts shouldbe given a meaningful interpretation in the context of tuples.442 Since casting is a fundamental operation in \CFA, casts need to be given a meaningful interpretation in the context of tuples. 445 443 Taking a look at standard C provides some guidance with respect to the way casts should work with tuples. 446 444 \begin{cfacode}[numbers=left] … … 448 446 void g(); 449 447 450 (void)f(); 451 (int)g(); 448 (void)f(); // valid, ignore results 449 (int)g(); // invalid, void cannot be converted to int 452 450 453 451 struct A { int x; }; 454 (struct A)f(); 452 (struct A)f(); // invalid 455 453 \end{cfacode} 456 454 In C, line 4 is a valid cast, which calls @f@ and discards its result. 457 455 On the other hand, line 5 is invalid, because @g@ does not produce a result, so requesting an @int@ to materialize from nothing is nonsensical. 458 Finally, line 8 is also invalid, because in C casts only provide conversion between scalar types \cite {C11}.459 For consistency, this implies that any case wherein the number of components increases as a result of the cast is invalid, while casts whichhave the same or fewer number of components may be valid.456 Finally, line 8 is also invalid, because in C casts only provide conversion between scalar types \cite[p.~91]{C11}. 457 For consistency, this implies that any case wherein the number of components increases as a result of the cast is invalid, while casts that have the same or fewer number of components may be valid. 460 458 461 459 Formally, a cast to tuple type is valid when $T_n \leq S_m$, where $T_n$ is the number of components in the target type and $S_m$ is the number of components in the source type, and for each $i$ in $[0, n)$, $S_i$ can be cast to $T_i$. … … 509 507 \end{cfacode} 510 508 Note that due to the implicit tuple conversions, this function is not restricted to the addition of two triples. 511 A call to this plus operator type checks as long as a total of 6 non-tuple arguments are passed after flattening, and all of the arguments have a common type whichcan bind to @T@, with a pairwise @?+?@ over @T@.512 For example, these expressions willalso succeed and produce the same value.513 \begin{cfacode} 514 ([x.0, x.1]) + ([x.2, 10, 20, 30]); 515 x.0 + ([x.1, x.2, 10, 20, 30]); 509 A call to this plus operator type checks as long as a total of 6 non-tuple arguments are passed after flattening, and all of the arguments have a common type that can bind to @T@, with a pairwise @?+?@ over @T@. 510 For example, these expressions also succeed and produce the same value. 511 \begin{cfacode} 512 ([x.0, x.1]) + ([x.2, 10, 20, 30]); // x + ([10, 20, 30]) 513 x.0 + ([x.1, x.2, 10, 20, 30]); // x + ([10, 20, 30]) 516 514 \end{cfacode} 517 515 This presents a potential problem if structure is important, as these three expressions look like they should have different meanings. 518 Further , these calls can be made ambiguous by adding seemingly different functions.516 Furthermore, these calls can be made ambiguous by introducing seemingly different functions. 519 517 \begin{cfacode} 520 518 forall(otype T | { T ?+?(T, T); }) … … 524 522 \end{cfacode} 525 523 It is also important to note that these calls could be disambiguated if the function return types were different, as they likely would be for a reasonable implementation of @?+?@, since the return type is used in overload resolution. 526 Still, th is isa deficiency of the current argument matching algorithm, and depending on the function, differing return values may not always be appropriate.527 It's possible that this could be rectified by applying an appropriate cost to the structuring and flattening conversions, which are currently 0-cost conversions.524 Still, these semantics are a deficiency of the current argument matching algorithm, and depending on the function, differing return values may not always be appropriate. 525 These issues could be rectified by applying an appropriate cost to the structuring and flattening conversions, which are currently 0-cost conversions. 528 526 Care would be needed in this case to ensure that exact matches do not incur such a cost. 529 527 \begin{cfacode} … … 536 534 \end{cfacode} 537 535 538 Until this point, it has been assumed that assertion arguments must match the parameter type exactly, modulo polymorphic specialization (i.e. no implicit conversions are applied to assertion arguments).536 Until this point, it has been assumed that assertion arguments must match the parameter type exactly, modulo polymorphic specialization (i.e., no implicit conversions are applied to assertion arguments). 539 537 This decision presents a conflict with the flexibility of tuples. 540 538 \subsection{Assertion Inference} … … 617 615 In the call to @f@, the second and third argument components are structured into a tuple argument. 618 616 619 Expressions whichmay contain side effects are made into \emph{unique expressions} before being expanded by the flattening conversion.617 Expressions that may contain side effects are made into \emph{unique expressions} before being expanded by the flattening conversion. 620 618 Each unique expression is assigned an identifier and is guaranteed to be executed exactly once. 621 619 \begin{cfacode} … … 624 622 g(h()); 625 623 \end{cfacode} 626 Inter ally, this is converted to624 Internally, this is converted to pseudo-\CFA 627 625 \begin{cfacode} 628 626 void g(int, double); 629 627 [int, double] h(); 630 let unq<0> = f() : g(unq<0>.0, unq<0>.1); // notation? 631 \end{cfacode} 628 lazy [int, double] unq0 = h(); // deferred execution 629 g(unq0.0, unq0.1); // execute h() once 630 \end{cfacode} 631 That is, the function @h@ is evaluated lazily and its result is stored for subsequent accesses. 632 632 Ultimately, unique expressions are converted into two variables and an expression. 633 633 \begin{cfacode} … … 638 638 [int, double] _unq0; 639 639 g( 640 (_unq0_finished_ ? _unq0 : (_unq0 = f(), _unq0_finished_ = 1, _unq0)).0,641 (_unq0_finished_ ? _unq0 : (_unq0 = f(), _unq0_finished_ = 1, _unq0)).1,640 (_unq0_finished_ ? _unq0 : (_unq0 = h(), _unq0_finished_ = 1, _unq0)).0, 641 (_unq0_finished_ ? _unq0 : (_unq0 = h(), _unq0_finished_ = 1, _unq0)).1, 642 642 ); 643 643 \end{cfacode} … … 646 646 Every subsequent evaluation of the unique expression then results in an access to the stored result of the actual expression. 647 647 648 Currently, the \CFA translator has a very broad, imprecise definition of impurity , where any function call is assumed to be impure.649 This notion could be made more precise for certain intrinsic, auto generated, and builtin functions, and could analyze function bodies when they are availableto recursively detect impurity, to eliminate some unique expressions.650 It 's possible that unique expressions could be exposed to the user through a language feature, but it's not immediately obvious that there is a benefit to doing so.648 Currently, the \CFA translator has a very broad, imprecise definition of impurity (side-effects), where every function call is assumed to be impure. 649 This notion could be made more precise for certain intrinsic, auto-generated, and built-in functions, and could analyze function bodies, when they are available, to recursively detect impurity, to eliminate some unique expressions. 650 It is possible that lazy evaluation could be exposed to the user through a lazy keyword with little additional effort. 651 651 652 652 Tuple member expressions are recursively expanded into a list of member access expressions. … … 655 655 x.[0, 1.[0, 2]]; 656 656 \end{cfacode} 657 Which becomes657 which becomes 658 658 \begin{cfacode} 659 659 [x.0, [x.1.0, x.1.2]]; 660 660 \end{cfacode} 661 Tuple 661 Tuple-member expressions also take advantage of unique expressions in the case of possible impurity. 662 662 663 663 Finally, the various kinds of tuple assignment, constructors, and destructors generate GNU C statement expressions. … … 711 711 }); 712 712 \end{cfacode} 713 A variable is generated to store the value produced by a statement expression, since its fields may need to be constructed with a non-trivial constructor and it may need to be referred to multiple time, e.g. in a unique expression.713 A variable is generated to store the value produced by a statement expression, since its fields may need to be constructed with a non-trivial constructor and it may need to be referred to multiple time, e.g., in a unique expression. 714 714 $N$ LHS variables are generated and constructed using the address of the tuple components, and a single RHS variable is generated to store the value of the RHS without any loss of precision. 715 715 A nested statement expression is generated that performs the individual assignments and constructs the return value using the results of the individual assignments. … … 785 785 The use of statement expressions allows the translator to arbitrarily generate additional temporary variables as needed, but binds the implementation to a non-standard extension of the C language. 786 786 There are other places where the \CFA translator makes use of GNU C extensions, such as its use of nested functions, so this is not a new restriction. 787 788 \section{Variadic Functions}789 % TODO: should this maybe be its own chapter?790 C provides variadic functions through the manipulation of @va_list@ objects.791 A variadic function is one which contains at least one parameter, followed by @...@ as the last token in the parameter list.792 In particular, some form of \emph{argument descriptor} is needed to inform the function of the number of arguments and their types.793 Two common argument descriptors are format strings or and counter parameters.794 It's important to note that both of these mechanisms are inherently redundant, because they require the user to specify information that the compiler knows explicitly.795 This required repetition is error prone, because it's easy for the user to add or remove arguments without updating the argument descriptor.796 In addition, C requires the programmer to hard code all of the possible expected types.797 As a result, it is cumbersome to write a function that is open to extension.798 For example, a simple function which sums $N$ @int@s,799 \begin{cfacode}800 int sum(int N, ...) {801 va_list args;802 va_start(args, N);803 int ret = 0;804 while(N) {805 ret += va_arg(args, int); // have to specify type806 N--;807 }808 va_end(args);809 return ret;810 }811 sum(3, 10, 20, 30); // need to keep counter in sync812 \end{cfacode}813 The @va_list@ type is a special C data type that abstracts variadic argument manipulation.814 The @va_start@ macro initializes a @va_list@, given the last named parameter.815 Each use of the @va_arg@ macro allows access to the next variadic argument, given a type.816 Since the function signature does not provide any information on what types can be passed to a variadic function, the compiler does not perform any error checks on a variadic call.817 As such, it is possible to pass any value to the @sum@ function, including pointers, floating-point numbers, and structures.818 In the case where the provided type is not compatible with the argument's actual type after default argument promotions, or if too many arguments are accessed, the behaviour is undefined \cite{C11}.819 Furthermore, there is no way to perform the necessary error checks in the @sum@ function at run-time, since type information is not carried into the function body.820 Since they rely on programmer convention rather than compile-time checks, variadic functions are generally unsafe.821 822 In practice, compilers can provide warnings to help mitigate some of the problems.823 For example, GCC provides the @format@ attribute to specify that a function uses a format string, which allows the compiler to perform some checks related to the standard format specifiers.824 Unfortunately, this does not permit extensions to the format string syntax, so a programmer cannot extend the attribute to warn for mismatches with custom types.825 826 Needless to say, C's variadic functions are a deficient language feature.827 Two options were examined to provide better, type-safe variadic functions in \CFA.828 \subsection{Whole Tuple Matching}829 Option 1 is to change the argument matching algorithm, so that type parameters can match whole tuples, rather than just their components.830 This option could be implemented with two phases of argument matching when a function contains type parameters and the argument list contains tuple arguments.831 If flattening and structuring fail to produce a match, a second attempt at matching the function and argument combination is made where tuple arguments are not expanded and structure must match exactly, modulo non-tuple implicit conversions.832 For example:833 \begin{cfacode}834 forall(otype T, otype U | { T g(U); })835 void f(T, U);836 837 [int, int] g([int, int, int, int]);838 839 f([1, 2], [3, 4, 5, 6]);840 \end{cfacode}841 With flattening and structuring, the call is first transformed into @f(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)@.842 Since the first argument of type @T@ does not have a tuple type, unification decides that @T=int@ and @1@ is matched as the first parameter.843 Likewise, @U@ does not have a tuple type, so @U=int@ and @2@ is accepted as the second parameter.844 There are now no remaining formal parameters, but there are remaining arguments and the function is not variadic, so the match fails.845 846 With the addition of an exact matching attempt, @T=[int,int]@ and @U=[int,int,int,int]@ and so the arguments type check.847 Likewise, when inferring assertion @g@, an exact match is found.848 849 This approach is strict with respect to argument structure by nature, which makes it syntactically awkward to use in ways that the existing tuple design is not.850 For example, consider a @new@ function which allocates memory using @malloc@ and constructs the result, using arbitrary arguments.851 \begin{cfacode}852 struct Array;853 void ?{}(Array *, int, int, int);854 855 forall(dtype T, otype Params | sized(T) | { void ?{}(T *, Params); })856 T * new(Params p) {857 return malloc(){ p };858 }859 Array(int) * x = new([1, 2, 3]);860 \end{cfacode}861 The call to @new@ is not particularly appealing, since it requires the use of square brackets at the call-site, which is not required in any other function call.862 This shifts the burden from the compiler to the programmer, which is almost always wrong, and creates an odd inconsistency within the language.863 Similarly, in order to pass 0 variadic arguments, an explicit empty tuple must be passed into the argument list, otherwise the exact matching rule would not have an argument to bind against.864 865 It should be otherwise noted that the addition of an exact matching rule only affects the outcome for polymorphic type binding when tuples are involved.866 For non-tuple arguments, exact matching and flattening \& structuring are equivalent.867 For tuple arguments to a function without polymorphic formal parameters, flattening and structuring work whenever an exact match would have worked, since the tuple is flattened and implicitly restructured to its original structure.868 Thus there is nothing to be gained from permitting the exact matching rule to take effect when a function does not contain polymorphism and none of the arguments are tuples.869 870 Overall, this option takes a step in the right direction, but is contrary to the flexibility of the existing tuple design.871 872 \subsection{A New Typeclass}873 A second option is the addition of another kind of type parameter, @ttype@.874 Matching against a @ttype@ parameter consumes all remaining argument components and packages them into a tuple, binding to the resulting tuple of types.875 In a given parameter list, there should be at most one @ttype@ parameter that must occur last, otherwise the call can never resolve, given the previous rule.876 % TODO: a similar rule exists in C/C++ for "..."877 This idea essentially matches normal variadic semantics, with a strong feeling of similarity to \CCeleven variadic templates.878 As such, @ttype@ variables will also be referred to as argument packs.879 This is the option that has been added to \CFA.880 881 Like variadic templates, the main way to manipulate @ttype@ polymorphic functions is through recursion.882 Since nothing is known about a parameter pack by default, assertion parameters are key to doing anything meaningful.883 Unlike variadic templates, @ttype@ polymorphic functions can be separately compiled.884 885 For example, a simple translation of the C sum function using @ttype@ would look like886 \begin{cfacode}887 int sum(){ return 0; } // (0)888 forall(ttype Params | { int sum(Params); })889 int sum(int x, Params rest) { // (1)890 return x+sum(rest);891 }892 sum(10, 20, 30);893 \end{cfacode}894 Since (0) does not accept any arguments, it is not a valid candidate function for the call @sum(10, 20, 30)@.895 In order to call (1), @10@ is matched with @x@, and the argument resolution moves on to the argument pack @rest@, which consumes the remainder of the argument list and @Params@ is bound to @[20, 30]@.896 In order to finish the resolution of @sum@, an assertion parameter which matches @int sum(int, int)@ is required.897 Like in the previous iteration, (0) is not a valid candiate, so (1) is examined with @Params@ bound to @[int]@, requiring the assertion @int sum(int)@.898 Next, (0) fails, and to satisfy (1) @Params@ is bound to @[]@, requiring an assertion @int sum()@.899 Finally, (0) matches and (1) fails, which terminates the recursion.900 Effectively, this traces as @sum(10, 20, 30)@ $\rightarrow$ @10+sum(20, 30)@ $\rightarrow$ @10+(20+sum(30))@ $\rightarrow$ @10+(20+(30+sum()))@ $\rightarrow$ @10+(20+(30+0))@.901 902 A point of note is that this version does not require any form of argument descriptor, since the \CFA type system keeps track of all of these details.903 It might be reasonable to take the @sum@ function a step further to enforce a minimum number of arguments, which could be done simply904 \begin{cfacode}905 int sum(int x, int y){906 return x+y;907 }908 forall(ttype Params | { int sum(int, Params); })909 int sum(int x, int y, Params rest) {910 return sum(x+y, rest);911 }912 sum(10, 20, 30);913 \end{cfacode}914 915 One more iteration permits the summation of any summable type, as long as all arguments are the same type.916 \begin{cfacode}917 trait summable(otype T) {918 T ?+?(T, T);919 };920 forall(otype R | summable(R))921 R sum(R x, R y){922 return x+y;923 }924 forall(otype R, ttype Params925 | summable(R)926 | { R sum(R, Params); })927 R sum(R x, R y, Params rest) {928 return sum(x+y, rest);929 }930 sum(3, 10, 20, 30);931 \end{cfacode}932 Unlike C, it is not necessary to hard code the expected type.933 This is naturally open to extension, in that any user-defined type with a @?+?@ operator is automatically able to be used with the @sum@ function.934 That is to say, the programmer who writes @sum@ does not need full program knowledge of every possible data type, unlike what is necessary to write an equivalent function using the standard C mechanisms.935 936 Going one last step, it is possible to achieve full generality in \CFA, allowing the summation of arbitrary lists of summable types.937 \begin{cfacode}938 trait summable(otype T1, otype T2, otype R) {939 R ?+?(T1, T2);940 };941 forall(otype T1, otype T2, otype R | summable(T1, T2, R))942 R sum(T1 x, T2 y) {943 return x+y;944 }945 forall(otype T1, otype T2, otype T3, ttype Params, otype R946 | summable(T1, T2, T3)947 | { R sum(T3, Params); })948 R sum(T1 x, T2 y, Params rest ) {949 return sum(x+y, rest);950 }951 sum(3, 10.5, 20, 30.3);952 \end{cfacode}953 The \CFA translator requires adding explicit @double ?+?(int, double)@ and @double ?+?(double, int)@ functions for this call to work, since implicit conversions are not supported for assertions.954 955 C variadic syntax and @ttype@ polymorphism probably should not be mixed, since it is not clear where to draw the line to decide which arguments belong where.956 Furthermore, it might be desirable to disallow polymorphic functions to use C variadic syntax to encourage a Cforall style.957 Aside from calling C variadic functions, it is not obvious that there is anything that can be done with C variadics that could not also be done with @ttype@ parameters.958 959 Variadic templates in \CC require an ellipsis token to express that a parameter is a parameter pack and to expand a parameter pack.960 \CFA does not need an ellipsis in either case, since the type class @ttype@ is only used for variadics.961 An alternative design could have used an ellipsis combined with an existing type class.962 This approach was not taken because the largest benefit of the ellipsis token in \CC is the ability to expand a parameter pack within an expression, e.g. in fold expressions, which requires compile-time knowledge of the structure of the parameter pack, which is not available in \CFA.963 \begin{cppcode}964 template<typename... Args>965 void f(Args &... args) {966 g(&args...); // expand to addresses of pack elements967 }968 \end{cppcode}969 As such, the addition of an ellipsis token would be purely an aesthetic change in \CFA today.970 971 It is possible to write a type-safe variadic print routine, which can replace @printf@972 \begin{cfacode}973 struct S { int x, y; };974 forall(otype T, ttype Params |975 { void print(T); void print(Params); })976 void print(T arg, Params rest) {977 print(arg);978 print(rest);979 }980 void print(char * x) { printf("%s", x); }981 void print(int x) { printf("%d", x); }982 void print(S s) { print("{ ", s.x, ",", s.y, " }"); }983 print("s = ", (S){ 1, 2 }, "\n");984 \end{cfacode}985 This example routine showcases a variadic-template-like decomposition of the provided argument list.986 The individual @print@ routines allow printing a single element of a type.987 The polymorphic @print@ allows printing any list of types, as long as each individual type has a @print@ function.988 The individual print functions can be used to build up more complicated @print@ routines, such as for @S@, which is something that cannot be done with @printf@ in C.989 990 It is also possible to use @ttype@ polymorphism to provide arbitrary argument forwarding functions.991 For example, it is possible to write @new@ as a library function.992 Example 2: new (i.e. type-safe malloc + constructors)993 \begin{cfacode}994 struct Array;995 void ?{}(Array *, int, int, int);996 997 forall(dtype T, ttype Params | sized(T) | { void ?{}(T *, Params); })998 T * new(Params p) {999 return malloc(){ p }; // construct result of malloc1000 }1001 Array * x = new(1, 2, 3);1002 \end{cfacode}1003 The @new@ function provides the combination of type-safe @malloc@ with a constructor call, so that it becomes impossible to forget to construct dynamically allocated objects.1004 This provides the type-safety of @new@ in \CC, without the need to specify the allocated type, thanks to return-type inference.1005 1006 In the call to @new@, @Array@ is selected to match @T@, and @Params@ is expanded to match @[int, int, int, int]@. To satisfy the assertions, a constructor with an interface compatible with @void ?{}(Array *, int, int, int)@ must exist in the current scope.1007 1008 \subsection{Implementation}1009 1010 The definition of @new@1011 \begin{cfacode}1012 forall(dtype T | sized(T)) T * malloc();1013 1014 forall(dtype T, ttype Params | sized(T) | { void ?{}(T *, Params); })1015 T * new(Params p) {1016 return malloc(){ p }; // construct result of malloc1017 }1018 \end{cfacode}1019 Generates the following1020 \begin{cfacode}1021 void *malloc(long unsigned int _sizeof_T, long unsigned int _alignof_T);1022 1023 void *new(1024 void (*_adapter_)(void (*)(), void *, void *),1025 long unsigned int _sizeof_T,1026 long unsigned int _alignof_T,1027 long unsigned int _sizeof_Params,1028 long unsigned int _alignof_Params,1029 void (* _ctor_T)(void *, void *),1030 void *p1031 ){1032 void *_retval_new;1033 void *_tmp_cp_ret0;1034 void *_tmp_ctor_expr0;1035 _retval_new=1036 (_adapter_(_ctor_T,1037 (_tmp_ctor_expr0=(_tmp_cp_ret0=malloc(_sizeof_2tT, _alignof_2tT),1038 _tmp_cp_ret0)),1039 p),1040 _tmp_ctor_expr0); // ?{}1041 *(void **)&_tmp_cp_ret0; // ^?{}1042 return _retval_new;1043 }1044 \end{cfacode}1045 The constructor for @T@ is called indirectly through the adapter function on the result of @malloc@ and the parameter pack.1046 The variable that was allocated and constructed is then returned from @new@.1047 1048 A call to @new@1049 \begin{cfacode}1050 struct S { int x, y; };1051 void ?{}(S *, int, int);1052 1053 S * s = new(3, 4);1054 \end{cfacode}1055 Generates the following1056 \begin{cfacode}1057 struct _tuple2_ { // _tuple2_(T0, T1)1058 void *field_0;1059 void *field_1;1060 };1061 struct _conc__tuple2_0 { // _tuple2_(int, int)1062 int field_0;1063 int field_1;1064 };1065 struct _conc__tuple2_0 _tmp_cp1; // tuple argument to new1066 struct S *_tmp_cp_ret1; // return value from new1067 void _thunk0( // ?{}(S *, [int, int])1068 struct S *_p0,1069 struct _conc__tuple2_0 _p11070 ){1071 _ctor_S(_p0, _p1.field_0, _p1.field_1); // restructure tuple parameter1072 }1073 void _adapter(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_p0, void *_p1){1074 // apply adaptee to arguments after casting to actual types1075 ((void (*)(struct S *, struct _conc__tuple2_0))_adaptee)(1076 _p0,1077 *(struct _conc__tuple2_0 *)_p11078 );1079 }1080 struct S *s = (struct S *)(_tmp_cp_ret1=1081 new(1082 _adapter,1083 sizeof(struct S),1084 __alignof__(struct S),1085 sizeof(struct _conc__tuple2_0),1086 __alignof__(struct _conc__tuple2_0),1087 (void (*)(void *, void *))&_thunk0,1088 (({ // copy construct tuple argument to new1089 int *__multassign_L0 = (int *)&_tmp_cp1.field_0;1090 int *__multassign_L1 = (int *)&_tmp_cp1.field_1;1091 int __multassign_R0 = 3;1092 int __multassign_R1 = 4;1093 ((*__multassign_L0=__multassign_R0 /* ?{} */) ,1094 (*__multassign_L1=__multassign_R1 /* ?{} */));1095 }), &_tmp_cp1)1096 ), _tmp_cp_ret1);1097 *(struct S **)&_tmp_cp_ret1; // ^?{} // destroy return value from new1098 ({ // destroy argument temporary1099 int *__massassign_L0 = (int *)&_tmp_cp1.field_0;1100 int *__massassign_L1 = (int *)&_tmp_cp1.field_1;1101 ((*__massassign_L0 /* ^?{} */) , (*__massassign_L1 /* ^?{} */));1102 });1103 \end{cfacode}1104 Of note, @_thunk0@ is generated to translate calls to @?{}(S *, [int, int])@ into calls to @?{}(S *, int, int)@.1105 The call to @new@ constructs a tuple argument using the supplied arguments.1106 1107 The @print@ function1108 \begin{cfacode}1109 forall(otype T, ttype Params |1110 { void print(T); void print(Params); })1111 void print(T arg, Params rest) {1112 print(arg);1113 print(rest);1114 }1115 \end{cfacode}1116 Generates1117 \begin{cfacode}1118 void print_variadic(1119 void (*_adapterF_7tParams__P)(void (*)(), void *),1120 void (*_adapterF_2tT__P)(void (*)(), void *),1121 void (*_adapterF_P2tT2tT__MP)(void (*)(), void *, void *),1122 void (*_adapterF2tT_P2tT2tT_P_MP)(void (*)(), void *, void *, void *),1123 long unsigned int _sizeof_T,1124 long unsigned int _alignof_T,1125 long unsigned int _sizeof_Params,1126 long unsigned int _alignof_Params,1127 void *(*_assign_TT)(void *, void *),1128 void (*_ctor_T)(void *),1129 void (*_ctor_TT)(void *, void *),1130 void (*_dtor_T)(void *),1131 void (*print_T)(void *),1132 void (*print_Params)(void *),1133 void *arg,1134 void *rest1135 ){1136 void *_tmp_cp0 = __builtin_alloca(_sizeof_T);1137 _adapterF_2tT__P( // print(arg)1138 ((void (*)())print_T),1139 (_adapterF_P2tT2tT__MP( // copy construct argument1140 ((void (*)())_ctor_TT),1141 _tmp_cp0,1142 arg1143 ), _tmp_cp0)1144 );1145 _dtor_T(_tmp_cp0); // destroy argument temporary1146 _adapterF_7tParams__P( // print(rest)1147 ((void (*)())print_Params),1148 rest1149 );1150 }1151 \end{cfacode}1152 The @print_T@ routine is called indirectly through an adapter function with a copy constructed argument, followed by an indirect call to @print_Params@.1153 1154 A call to print1155 \begin{cfacode}1156 void print(const char * x) { printf("%s", x); }1157 void print(int x) { printf("%d", x); }1158 1159 print("x = ", 123, ".\n");1160 \end{cfacode}1161 Generates the following1162 \begin{cfacode}1163 void print_string(const char *x){1164 int _tmp_cp_ret0;1165 (_tmp_cp_ret0=printf("%s", x)) , _tmp_cp_ret0;1166 *(int *)&_tmp_cp_ret0; // ^?{}1167 }1168 void print_int(int x){1169 int _tmp_cp_ret1;1170 (_tmp_cp_ret1=printf("%d", x)) , _tmp_cp_ret1;1171 *(int *)&_tmp_cp_ret1; // ^?{}1172 }1173 1174 struct _tuple2_ { // _tuple2_(T0, T1)1175 void *field_0;1176 void *field_1;1177 };1178 struct _conc__tuple2_0 { // _tuple2_(int, const char *)1179 int field_0;1180 const char *field_1;1181 };1182 struct _conc__tuple2_0 _tmp_cp6; // _tuple2_(int, const char *)1183 const char *_thunk0(const char **_p0, const char *_p1){1184 // const char * ?=?(const char **, const char *)1185 return *_p0=_p1;1186 }1187 void _thunk1(const char **_p0){ // void ?{}(const char **)1188 *_p0; // ?{}1189 }1190 void _thunk2(const char **_p0, const char *_p1){1191 // void ?{}(const char **, const char *)1192 *_p0=_p1; // ?{}1193 }1194 void _thunk3(const char **_p0){ // void ^?{}(const char **)1195 *_p0; // ^?{}1196 }1197 void _thunk4(struct _conc__tuple2_0 _p0){ // void print([int, const char *])1198 struct _tuple1_ { // _tuple1_(T0)1199 void *field_0;1200 };1201 struct _conc__tuple1_1 { // _tuple1_(const char *)1202 const char *field_0;1203 };1204 void _thunk5(struct _conc__tuple1_1 _pp0){ // void print([const char *])1205 print_string(_pp0.field_0); // print(rest.0)1206 }1207 void _adapter_i_pii_(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_ret, void *_p0, void *_p1){1208 *(int *)_ret=((int (*)(int *, int))_adaptee)(_p0, *(int *)_p1);1209 }1210 void _adapter_pii_(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_p0, void *_p1){1211 ((void (*)(int *, int ))_adaptee)(_p0, *(int *)_p1);1212 }1213 void _adapter_i_(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_p0){1214 ((void (*)(int))_adaptee)(*(int *)_p0);1215 }1216 void _adapter_tuple1_5_(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_p0){1217 ((void (*)(struct _conc__tuple1_1 ))_adaptee)(*(struct _conc__tuple1_1 *)_p0);1218 }1219 print_variadic(1220 _adapter_tuple1_5,1221 _adapter_i_,1222 _adapter_pii_,1223 _adapter_i_pii_,1224 sizeof(int),1225 __alignof__(int),1226 sizeof(struct _conc__tuple1_1),1227 __alignof__(struct _conc__tuple1_1),1228 (void *(*)(void *, void *))_assign_i, // int ?=?(int *, int)1229 (void (*)(void *))_ctor_i, // void ?{}(int *)1230 (void (*)(void *, void *))_ctor_ii, // void ?{}(int *, int)1231 (void (*)(void *))_dtor_ii, // void ^?{}(int *)1232 (void (*)(void *))print_int, // void print(int)1233 (void (*)(void *))&_thunk5, // void print([const char *])1234 &_p0.field_0, // rest.01235 &(struct _conc__tuple1_1 ){ _p0.field_1 } // [rest.1]1236 );1237 }1238 struct _tuple1_ { // _tuple1_(T0)1239 void *field_0;1240 };1241 struct _conc__tuple1_6 { // _tuple_1(const char *)1242 const char *field_0;1243 };1244 const char *_temp0;1245 _temp0="x = ";1246 void _adapter_pstring_pstring_string(1247 void (*_adaptee)(),1248 void *_ret,1249 void *_p0,1250 void *_p11251 ){1252 *(const char **)_ret=1253 ((const char *(*)(const char **, const char *))_adaptee)(1254 _p0,1255 *(const char **)_p11256 );1257 }1258 void _adapter_pstring_string(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_p0, void *_p1){1259 ((void (*)(const char **, const char *))_adaptee)(_p0, *(const char **)_p1);1260 }1261 void _adapter_string_(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_p0){1262 ((void (*)(const char *))_adaptee)(*(const char **)_p0);1263 }1264 void _adapter_tuple2_0_(void (*_adaptee)(), void *_p0){1265 ((void (*)(struct _conc__tuple2_0 ))_adaptee)(*(struct _conc__tuple2_0 *)_p0);1266 }1267 print_variadic(1268 _adapter_tuple2_0_,1269 _adapter_string_,1270 _adapter_pstring_string_,1271 _adapter_pstring_pstring_string_,1272 sizeof(const char *),1273 __alignof__(const char *),1274 sizeof(struct _conc__tuple2_0 ),1275 __alignof__(struct _conc__tuple2_0 ),1276 (void *(*)(void *, void *))&_thunk0, // const char * ?=?(const char **, const char *)1277 (void (*)(void *))&_thunk1, // void ?{}(const char **)1278 (void (*)(void *, void *))&_thunk2, // void ?{}(const char **, const char *)1279 (void (*)(void *))&_thunk3, // void ^?{}(const char **)1280 (void (*)(void *))print_string, // void print(const char *)1281 (void (*)(void *))&_thunk4, // void print([int, const char *])1282 &_temp0, // "x = "1283 (({ // copy construct tuple argument to print1284 int *__multassign_L0 = (int *)&_tmp_cp6.field_0;1285 const char **__multassign_L1 = (const char **)&_tmp_cp6.field_1;1286 int __multassign_R0 = 123;1287 const char *__multassign_R1 = ".\n";1288 ((*__multassign_L0=__multassign_R0 /* ?{} */),1289 (*__multassign_L1=__multassign_R1 /* ?{} */));1290 }), &_tmp_cp6) // [123, ".\n"]1291 );1292 ({ // destroy argument temporary1293 int *__massassign_L0 = (int *)&_tmp_cp6.field_0;1294 const char **__massassign_L1 = (const char **)&_tmp_cp6.field_1;1295 ((*__massassign_L0 /* ^?{} */) , (*__massassign_L1 /* ^?{} */));1296 });1297 \end{cfacode}1298 The type @_tuple2_@ is generated to allow passing the @rest@ argument to @print_variadic@.1299 Thunks 0 through 3 provide wrappers for the @otype@ parameters for @const char *@, while @_thunk4@ translates a call to @print([int, const char *])@ into a call to @print_variadic(int, [const char *])@.1300 This all builds to a call to @print_variadic@, with the appropriate copy construction of the tuple argument.1301 1302 \section{Future Work}
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