Re: [PATCH 03/14] block: Make the lock context annotations compatible with Clang

[Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>]

On Wed, Mar 04, 2026 at 03:34:12PM -0600, Bart Van Assche wrote:
> Here are specific examples of what is possible with the Clang
> thread-safety analysis and what falls outside the scope of any code
> review software:
> * Documenting which synchronization object protects which member
>   variable (the __guarded_by() annotation). It can be very difficult
>   or even ambiguous to derive from code which synchronization object is
>   intended to protect which member variable. The Clang thread-safety
>   support allows to annotate member variables with __guarded_by().
> * Whether or not it is intentional that some code paths unlock a
>   synchronization object and other paths do not. The Clang
>   thread-safety annotations include __acquires() and __cond_acquires().
>   These annotations not only enable compile time checking of
>   synchronization calls but are also useful as documentation to humans.

I'm skeptical that the overhead justifies the likely constantly diminishing
benefits. I suppose it's upto each subsystem's choice.

Thanks.

-- 
tejun