[RFC PATCH 0/2] Adding string_list_sort_u to replace combined calls of string_list_sort and string_list_remove_duplicates calls.

[RFC PATCH 0/2] Adding string_list_sort_u to replace combined calls of string_list_sort and string_list_remove_duplicates calls.

[Amisha Chhajed]

Following up with Junio's suggestion in 
https://lore.kernel.org/git/xmqqqzrp74q3.fsf@gitster.g/, calls to 
string_list_remove_duplicates are almost always preceeded by string_list_sort
which can be coupled into a single method.

There are places, for example the call of string_list_remove_duplicates
in pack-objects.c where removal of that line causes no test failures,
however removal of string_list_sort_u version did because removing sort
is a more catchable behaviour by the current tests, this might improve
the case where we were unsure why removing string_list_remove_duplicates
caused no test failures.

I was unable to write unit tests for this new method in this RFC PATCH
since I was quite unsure why no unit tests were present for string_list_sort
and string_list_insert.

Amisha Chhajed (2):
  Adding string_list_sort_u which sorts a list then deduplicates it.
  Replacing calls of string_list_sort and string_list_remove_duplicates
    with the combined variant string_list_u.

 builtin/clone.c           | 3 +--
 builtin/fast-export.c     | 3 +--
 builtin/pack-objects.c    | 6 ++----
 builtin/sparse-checkout.c | 6 ++----
 help.c                    | 3 +--
 notes.c                   | 3 +--
 string-list.c             | 6 ++++++
 string-list.h             | 6 ++++++
 8 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

-- 
2.51.0

[RFC PATCH 1/2] Adding string_list_sort_u which sorts a list then deduplicates it.

[Amisha Chhajed]

string_list_remove_duplicates is almost always preceeded by
string_list_sort, hence adding string_list_sort_u which dedupliactes
post sorting.

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 string-list.c | 6 ++++++
 string-list.h | 6 ++++++
 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+)

diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index 08dc00984c..020ed8fef7 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@ void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list)
 	QSORT_S(list->items, list->nr, cmp_items, &sort_ctx);
 }
 
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util)
+{
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, free_util);
+}
+
 struct string_list_item *unsorted_string_list_lookup(struct string_list *list,
 						     const char *string)
 {
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index fa6ba07853..3ad862a187 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -239,6 +239,12 @@ struct string_list_item *string_list_append_nodup(struct string_list *list, char
  */
 void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list);
 
+/**
+ * Sort the list and then remove duplicate entries.  If free_util is true,
+ * call free() on the util members of any items that have to be deleted.
+ */
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util);
+
 /**
  * Like `string_list_has_string()` but for unsorted lists. Linear in
  * size of the list.
-- 
2.51.0

[RFC PATCH 2/2] Replacing calls of string_list_sort and string_list_remove_duplicates with the combined variant string_list_u.

[Amisha Chhajed]

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 builtin/clone.c           | 3 +--
 builtin/fast-export.c     | 3 +--
 builtin/pack-objects.c    | 6 ++----
 builtin/sparse-checkout.c | 6 ++----
 help.c                    | 3 +--
 notes.c                   | 3 +--
 6 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index b19b302b06..f05364c268 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1136,8 +1136,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,
 		int val;
 
 		/* remove duplicates */
-		string_list_sort(&option_recurse_submodules);
-		string_list_remove_duplicates(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
+		string_list_sort_u(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
 
 		/*
 		 * NEEDSWORK: In a multi-working-tree world, this needs to be
diff --git a/builtin/fast-export.c b/builtin/fast-export.c
index b90da5e616..0c5d2386d8 100644
--- a/builtin/fast-export.c
+++ b/builtin/fast-export.c
@@ -1118,8 +1118,7 @@ static void get_tags_and_duplicates(struct rev_cmdline_info *info)
 			free(full_name);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&extra_refs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&extra_refs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&extra_refs, 0);
 }
 
 static void handle_tags_and_duplicates(struct string_list *extras)
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index ca44b7894f..649dab4ed0 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3849,10 +3849,8 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(struct rev_info *revs)
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&include_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&include_packs, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&exclude_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&exclude_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&include_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&exclude_packs, 0);
 
 	repo_for_each_pack(the_repository, p) {
 		const char *pack_name = pack_basename(p);
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 15d51e60a8..25de7692c9 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -292,8 +292,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 			string_list_insert(&sl, pe->pattern);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	fprintf(fp, "/*\n!/*/\n");
 
@@ -316,8 +315,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 
 	strbuf_release(&parent_pattern);
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < sl.nr; i++) {
 		char *pattern = escaped_pattern(sl.items[i].string);
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 20e114432d..2070095b6f 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -420,8 +420,7 @@ void list_cmds_by_config(struct string_list *list)
 	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "completion.commands", &cmd_list))
 		return;
 
-	string_list_sort(list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
 
 	while (*cmd_list) {
 		struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 8e00fd8c47..090c48bbd5 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -921,8 +921,7 @@ int combine_notes_cat_sort_uniq(struct object_id *cur_oid,
 	if (string_list_add_note_lines(&sort_uniq_list, new_oid))
 		goto out;
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&sort_uniq_list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
 
 	/* create a new blob object from sort_uniq_list */
 	if (for_each_string_list(&sort_uniq_list,
-- 
2.51.0

Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] Adding string_list_sort_u which sorts a list then deduplicates it.

[Junio C Hamano]

Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:

> string_list_remove_duplicates is almost always preceeded by
> string_list_sort, hence adding string_list_sort_u which dedupliactes
> post sorting.

The usual way to compose a log message of this project is to

 - Give an observation on how the current system works in the
   present tense (so no need to say "Currently X is Y", or
   "Previously X was Y" to describe the state before your change;
   just "X is Y" is enough), and discuss what you perceive as a
   problem in it.

 - Propose a solution (optional---often, problem description
   trivially leads to an obvious solution in reader's minds).

 - Give commands to somebody editing the codebase to "make it so",
   instead of saying "This commit does X".

in this order.

To those who have been intimately following the discussion, it often
is understandable without some of the above, but we are not writing
for those who review the patches.  We are primarily writing for future
readers of "git log" who are not aware of the review discussion we
have on list, so we should give something to prepare them by setting
the stage and stating the objective first, before going into how the
patch solved it.

With that in mind, perhaps something along this line ...


    Subject: string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

    Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
    immediately after calling string_list_sort().  It is
    understandable because the former requires the string-list to be
    sorted, but at the same time, it is clear that these places are
    sorting only to remove duplicates and for no other reason.

    Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u() that combines
    these two calls that often appear together, to help simplify
    these callsites.

... probably?

The same comment applies to the way the other patch is explained.

Thanks.

Re: [RFC PATCH 0/2] Adding string_list_sort_u to replace combined calls of string_list_sort and string_list_remove_duplicates calls.

[Junio C Hamano]

Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:

> I was unable to write unit tests for this new method in this RFC PATCH
> since I was quite unsure why no unit tests were present for string_list_sort
> and string_list_insert.

t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c has tests for remove_duplicates,
though.  If one discovers test coverage is lacking, it is perfectly
fine to enhance the coverage, especially the low-level unit tests
are ralatively cheap to run.

Thanks.

Re: [RFC PATCH 2/2] Replacing calls of string_list_sort and string_list_remove_duplicates with the combined variant string_list_u.

[Junio C Hamano]

Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:

> Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
> ---
>  builtin/clone.c           | 3 +--
>  builtin/fast-export.c     | 3 +--
>  builtin/pack-objects.c    | 6 ++----
>  builtin/sparse-checkout.c | 6 ++----
>  help.c                    | 3 +--
>  notes.c                   | 3 +--
>  6 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

Nice to see many calls to remove_duplicates() are hidden away, so
that we can check the remaining ones.

[PATCH 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Amisha Chhajed]

Unit tests in u-string-list.c does not cover several methods
in string-list, this gap in coverage makes it difficult to
ensure no regressions are introduced in future changes.

Add unit tests for the following methods to enhance coverage:
string_list_remove_empty_items()
unsorted_string_list_has_string()
unsorted_string_list_delete_item()
string_list_has_string()
string_list_insert()
string_list_sort()
string_list_remove()

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 197 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 197 insertions(+)

diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index a2457d7b1e..6b4b858330 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -243,6 +243,133 @@ void test_string_list__filter(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_has_string(struct string_list *list, const char *string, int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = string_list_has_string(list, string);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "", 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 0);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_insert(struct string_list *expected_strings, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list strings_to_insert = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, expected_strings);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&strings_to_insert, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++) {
+		string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
+	}
+
+	t_string_list_equal(&list, expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&strings_to_insert, 0);
+	string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__insert(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "b", "a", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "c", "b", "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "a", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_sort(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "c", "a", "b", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "a", "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_remove(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list, char const *str)
+{
+	string_list_remove(list, str, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "a");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "e");
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_duplicates(struct string_list *list, ...)
 {
 	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
@@ -304,3 +431,73 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
+
+static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list)
+{
+	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove_empty_items(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "", "b", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(struct string_list *list, const char *str, int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = unsorted_string_list_has_string(list, str);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "d", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 0);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 1);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(struct string_list *expected_list, struct string_list *list, int i)
+{
+	unsorted_string_list_delete_item(list, i, 0);
+
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_list);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_delete_item(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "d", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 1);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "d", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0,  "a", "d", "c", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 4);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
-- 
2.51.0

[PATCH 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Amisha Chhajed]

Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
immdediately after calling string_list_sort(), understandably
as the former requires string-list to be sorted, it is clear
that these places are sorting only to remove duplicates and
for no other reason.

Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u that combines
these two calls that often appear together, to simplify
these callsites. Replace the current calls of those methods with
string_list_sort_u().

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 builtin/clone.c              |  3 +--
 builtin/fast-export.c        |  3 +--
 builtin/pack-objects.c       |  6 ++----
 builtin/sparse-checkout.c    |  6 ++----
 help.c                       |  3 +--
 notes.c                      |  3 +--
 string-list.c                |  6 ++++++
 string-list.h                |  6 ++++++
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 9 files changed, 54 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index b19b302b06..f05364c268 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1136,8 +1136,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,
 		int val;
 
 		/* remove duplicates */
-		string_list_sort(&option_recurse_submodules);
-		string_list_remove_duplicates(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
+		string_list_sort_u(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
 
 		/*
 		 * NEEDSWORK: In a multi-working-tree world, this needs to be
diff --git a/builtin/fast-export.c b/builtin/fast-export.c
index b90da5e616..0c5d2386d8 100644
--- a/builtin/fast-export.c
+++ b/builtin/fast-export.c
@@ -1118,8 +1118,7 @@ static void get_tags_and_duplicates(struct rev_cmdline_info *info)
 			free(full_name);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&extra_refs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&extra_refs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&extra_refs, 0);
 }
 
 static void handle_tags_and_duplicates(struct string_list *extras)
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index ca44b7894f..649dab4ed0 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3849,10 +3849,8 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(struct rev_info *revs)
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&include_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&include_packs, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&exclude_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&exclude_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&include_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&exclude_packs, 0);
 
 	repo_for_each_pack(the_repository, p) {
 		const char *pack_name = pack_basename(p);
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 15d51e60a8..25de7692c9 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -292,8 +292,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 			string_list_insert(&sl, pe->pattern);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	fprintf(fp, "/*\n!/*/\n");
 
@@ -316,8 +315,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 
 	strbuf_release(&parent_pattern);
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < sl.nr; i++) {
 		char *pattern = escaped_pattern(sl.items[i].string);
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 20e114432d..2070095b6f 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -420,8 +420,7 @@ void list_cmds_by_config(struct string_list *list)
 	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "completion.commands", &cmd_list))
 		return;
 
-	string_list_sort(list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
 
 	while (*cmd_list) {
 		struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 8e00fd8c47..090c48bbd5 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -921,8 +921,7 @@ int combine_notes_cat_sort_uniq(struct object_id *cur_oid,
 	if (string_list_add_note_lines(&sort_uniq_list, new_oid))
 		goto out;
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&sort_uniq_list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
 
 	/* create a new blob object from sort_uniq_list */
 	if (for_each_string_list(&sort_uniq_list,
diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index 08dc00984c..020ed8fef7 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@ void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list)
 	QSORT_S(list->items, list->nr, cmp_items, &sort_ctx);
 }
 
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util)
+{
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, free_util);
+}
+
 struct string_list_item *unsorted_string_list_lookup(struct string_list *list,
 						     const char *string)
 {
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index fa6ba07853..3ad862a187 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -239,6 +239,12 @@ struct string_list_item *string_list_append_nodup(struct string_list *list, char
  */
 void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list);
 
+/**
+ * Sort the list and then remove duplicate entries.  If free_util is true,
+ * call free() on the util members of any items that have to be deleted.
+ */
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util);
+
 /**
  * Like `string_list_has_string()` but for unsorted lists. Linear in
  * size of the list.
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index 6b4b858330..f91bb60e09 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -432,6 +432,40 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort_u(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "d", "c", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list)
 {
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
-- 
2.51.0

[PATCH 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Amisha Chhajed]

Unit tests in u-string-list.c does not cover several methods
in string-list, this gap in coverage makes it difficult to
ensure no regressions are introduced in future changes.

Add unit tests for the following methods to enhance coverage:
string_list_remove_empty_items()
unsorted_string_list_has_string()
unsorted_string_list_delete_item()
string_list_has_string()
string_list_insert()
string_list_sort()
string_list_remove()

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 197 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 197 insertions(+)

diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index a2457d7b1e..6b4b858330 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -243,6 +243,133 @@ void test_string_list__filter(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_has_string(struct string_list *list, const char *string, int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = string_list_has_string(list, string);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "", 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 0);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_insert(struct string_list *expected_strings, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list strings_to_insert = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, expected_strings);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&strings_to_insert, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++) {
+		string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
+	}
+
+	t_string_list_equal(&list, expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&strings_to_insert, 0);
+	string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__insert(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "b", "a", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "c", "b", "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "a", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_sort(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "c", "a", "b", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "a", "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_remove(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list, char const *str)
+{
+	string_list_remove(list, str, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "a");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "e");
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_duplicates(struct string_list *list, ...)
 {
 	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
@@ -304,3 +431,73 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
+
+static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list)
+{
+	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove_empty_items(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "", "b", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(struct string_list *list, const char *str, int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = unsorted_string_list_has_string(list, str);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "d", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 0);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 1);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(struct string_list *expected_list, struct string_list *list, int i)
+{
+	unsorted_string_list_delete_item(list, i, 0);
+
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_list);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_delete_item(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "d", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 1);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "d", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0,  "a", "d", "c", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 4);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
-- 
2.51.0

[PATCH 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Amisha Chhajed]

Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
immdediately after calling string_list_sort(), understandably
as the former requires string-list to be sorted, it is clear
that these places are sorting only to remove duplicates and
for no other reason.

Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u that combines
these two calls that often appear together, to simplify
these callsites. Replace the current calls of those methods with
string_list_sort_u().

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 builtin/clone.c              |  3 +--
 builtin/fast-export.c        |  3 +--
 builtin/pack-objects.c       |  6 ++----
 builtin/sparse-checkout.c    |  6 ++----
 help.c                       |  3 +--
 notes.c                      |  3 +--
 string-list.c                |  6 ++++++
 string-list.h                |  6 ++++++
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 9 files changed, 54 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index b19b302b06..f05364c268 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1136,8 +1136,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,
 		int val;
 
 		/* remove duplicates */
-		string_list_sort(&option_recurse_submodules);
-		string_list_remove_duplicates(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
+		string_list_sort_u(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
 
 		/*
 		 * NEEDSWORK: In a multi-working-tree world, this needs to be
diff --git a/builtin/fast-export.c b/builtin/fast-export.c
index b90da5e616..0c5d2386d8 100644
--- a/builtin/fast-export.c
+++ b/builtin/fast-export.c
@@ -1118,8 +1118,7 @@ static void get_tags_and_duplicates(struct rev_cmdline_info *info)
 			free(full_name);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&extra_refs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&extra_refs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&extra_refs, 0);
 }
 
 static void handle_tags_and_duplicates(struct string_list *extras)
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index ca44b7894f..649dab4ed0 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3849,10 +3849,8 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(struct rev_info *revs)
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&include_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&include_packs, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&exclude_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&exclude_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&include_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&exclude_packs, 0);
 
 	repo_for_each_pack(the_repository, p) {
 		const char *pack_name = pack_basename(p);
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 15d51e60a8..25de7692c9 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -292,8 +292,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 			string_list_insert(&sl, pe->pattern);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	fprintf(fp, "/*\n!/*/\n");
 
@@ -316,8 +315,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 
 	strbuf_release(&parent_pattern);
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < sl.nr; i++) {
 		char *pattern = escaped_pattern(sl.items[i].string);
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 20e114432d..2070095b6f 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -420,8 +420,7 @@ void list_cmds_by_config(struct string_list *list)
 	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "completion.commands", &cmd_list))
 		return;
 
-	string_list_sort(list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
 
 	while (*cmd_list) {
 		struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 8e00fd8c47..090c48bbd5 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -921,8 +921,7 @@ int combine_notes_cat_sort_uniq(struct object_id *cur_oid,
 	if (string_list_add_note_lines(&sort_uniq_list, new_oid))
 		goto out;
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&sort_uniq_list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
 
 	/* create a new blob object from sort_uniq_list */
 	if (for_each_string_list(&sort_uniq_list,
diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index 08dc00984c..020ed8fef7 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@ void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list)
 	QSORT_S(list->items, list->nr, cmp_items, &sort_ctx);
 }
 
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util)
+{
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, free_util);
+}
+
 struct string_list_item *unsorted_string_list_lookup(struct string_list *list,
 						     const char *string)
 {
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index fa6ba07853..3ad862a187 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -239,6 +239,12 @@ struct string_list_item *string_list_append_nodup(struct string_list *list, char
  */
 void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list);
 
+/**
+ * Sort the list and then remove duplicate entries.  If free_util is true,
+ * call free() on the util members of any items that have to be deleted.
+ */
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util);
+
 /**
  * Like `string_list_has_string()` but for unsorted lists. Linear in
  * size of the list.
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index 6b4b858330..f91bb60e09 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -432,6 +432,40 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort_u(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "d", "c", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list)
 {
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
-- 
2.51.0

Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] Adding string_list_sort_u which sorts a list then deduplicates it.

[Amisha Chhajed]

On Fri, 23 Jan 2026 at 03:37, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
>
> Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > string_list_remove_duplicates is almost always preceeded by
> > string_list_sort, hence adding string_list_sort_u which dedupliactes
> > post sorting.
>
> The usual way to compose a log message of this project is to
>
>  - Give an observation on how the current system works in the
>    present tense (so no need to say "Currently X is Y", or
>    "Previously X was Y" to describe the state before your change;
>    just "X is Y" is enough), and discuss what you perceive as a
>    problem in it.
>
>  - Propose a solution (optional---often, problem description
>    trivially leads to an obvious solution in reader's minds).
>
>  - Give commands to somebody editing the codebase to "make it so",
>    instead of saying "This commit does X".
>
> in this order.
>
> To those who have been intimately following the discussion, it often
> is understandable without some of the above, but we are not writing
> for those who review the patches.  We are primarily writing for future
> readers of "git log" who are not aware of the review discussion we
> have on list, so we should give something to prepare them by setting
> the stage and stating the objective first, before going into how the
> patch solved it.
>
> With that in mind, perhaps something along this line ...
>
>
>     Subject: string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"
>
>     Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
>     immediately after calling string_list_sort().  It is
>     understandable because the former requires the string-list to be
>     sorted, but at the same time, it is clear that these places are
>     sorting only to remove duplicates and for no other reason.
>
>     Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u() that combines
>     these two calls that often appear together, to help simplify
>     these callsites.
>
> ... probably?
>
> The same comment applies to the way the other patch is explained.
>
> Thanks.
>

Very helpful, thank you so much, i will keep in mind.

Re: [PATCH 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Junio C Hamano]

Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:

> Unit tests in u-string-list.c does not cover several methods
> in string-list, this gap in coverage makes it difficult to
> ensure no regressions are introduced in future changes.
>
> Add unit tests for the following methods to enhance coverage:
> string_list_remove_empty_items()
> unsorted_string_list_has_string()
> unsorted_string_list_delete_item()
> string_list_has_string()
> string_list_insert()
> string_list_sort()
> string_list_remove()
>
> Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
> ---
>  t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 197 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 197 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> index a2457d7b1e..6b4b858330 100644
> --- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> +++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> @@ -243,6 +243,133 @@ void test_string_list__filter(void)
> ...
> +static void t_string_list_insert(struct string_list *expected_strings, ...)
> +{
> +	struct string_list strings_to_insert = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +	va_list ap;
> +
> +	va_start(ap, expected_strings);
> +	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&strings_to_insert, 0, ap);
> +	va_end(ap);
> +
> +	for (int i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++) {

As strings_to_insert.nr is of type size_t, even though int is plenty
large enough in practice, the compiler will complain.

> +		string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
> +	}

Also, lose the {} around a single statement block.

[PATCH v2 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Amisha Chhajed]

Unit tests in u-string-list.c does not cover several methods
in string-list, this gap in coverage makes it difficult to
ensure no regressions are introduced in future changes.

Add unit tests for the following methods to enhance coverage:
string_list_remove_empty_items()
unsorted_string_list_has_string()
unsorted_string_list_delete_item()
string_list_has_string()
string_list_insert()
string_list_sort()
string_list_remove()

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 196 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 196 insertions(+)

diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index a2457d7b1e..6b2b16671c 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -243,6 +243,132 @@ void test_string_list__filter(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_has_string(struct string_list *list, const char *string, int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = string_list_has_string(list, string);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "", 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 0);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_insert(struct string_list *expected_strings, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list strings_to_insert = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, expected_strings);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&strings_to_insert, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++)
+		string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
+
+	t_string_list_equal(&list, expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&strings_to_insert, 0);
+	string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__insert(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "b", "a", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "c", "b", "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "a", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_sort(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "c", "a", "b", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "a", "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_remove(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list, char const *str)
+{
+	string_list_remove(list, str, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "a");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "e");
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_duplicates(struct string_list *list, ...)
 {
 	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
@@ -304,3 +430,73 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
+
+static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list)
+{
+	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove_empty_items(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "", "b", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(struct string_list *list, const char *str, int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = unsorted_string_list_has_string(list, str);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "d", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 0);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 1);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(struct string_list *expected_list, struct string_list *list, int i)
+{
+	unsorted_string_list_delete_item(list, i, 0);
+
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_list);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_delete_item(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "d", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 1);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "d", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0,  "a", "d", "c", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 4);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
-- 
2.51.0

[PATCH v2 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Amisha Chhajed]

Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
immdediately after calling string_list_sort(), understandably
as the former requires string-list to be sorted, it is clear
that these places are sorting only to remove duplicates and
for no other reason.

Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u that combines
these two calls that often appear together, to simplify
these callsites. Replace the current calls of those methods with
string_list_sort_u().

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 builtin/clone.c              |  3 +--
 builtin/fast-export.c        |  3 +--
 builtin/pack-objects.c       |  6 ++----
 builtin/sparse-checkout.c    |  6 ++----
 help.c                       |  3 +--
 notes.c                      |  3 +--
 string-list.c                |  6 ++++++
 string-list.h                |  6 ++++++
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 9 files changed, 54 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index b19b302b06..f05364c268 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1136,8 +1136,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,
 		int val;
 
 		/* remove duplicates */
-		string_list_sort(&option_recurse_submodules);
-		string_list_remove_duplicates(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
+		string_list_sort_u(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
 
 		/*
 		 * NEEDSWORK: In a multi-working-tree world, this needs to be
diff --git a/builtin/fast-export.c b/builtin/fast-export.c
index b90da5e616..0c5d2386d8 100644
--- a/builtin/fast-export.c
+++ b/builtin/fast-export.c
@@ -1118,8 +1118,7 @@ static void get_tags_and_duplicates(struct rev_cmdline_info *info)
 			free(full_name);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&extra_refs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&extra_refs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&extra_refs, 0);
 }
 
 static void handle_tags_and_duplicates(struct string_list *extras)
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index ca44b7894f..649dab4ed0 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3849,10 +3849,8 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(struct rev_info *revs)
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&include_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&include_packs, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&exclude_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&exclude_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&include_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&exclude_packs, 0);
 
 	repo_for_each_pack(the_repository, p) {
 		const char *pack_name = pack_basename(p);
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 15d51e60a8..25de7692c9 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -292,8 +292,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 			string_list_insert(&sl, pe->pattern);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	fprintf(fp, "/*\n!/*/\n");
 
@@ -316,8 +315,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 
 	strbuf_release(&parent_pattern);
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < sl.nr; i++) {
 		char *pattern = escaped_pattern(sl.items[i].string);
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 20e114432d..2070095b6f 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -420,8 +420,7 @@ void list_cmds_by_config(struct string_list *list)
 	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "completion.commands", &cmd_list))
 		return;
 
-	string_list_sort(list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
 
 	while (*cmd_list) {
 		struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 8e00fd8c47..090c48bbd5 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -921,8 +921,7 @@ int combine_notes_cat_sort_uniq(struct object_id *cur_oid,
 	if (string_list_add_note_lines(&sort_uniq_list, new_oid))
 		goto out;
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&sort_uniq_list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
 
 	/* create a new blob object from sort_uniq_list */
 	if (for_each_string_list(&sort_uniq_list,
diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index 08dc00984c..020ed8fef7 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@ void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list)
 	QSORT_S(list->items, list->nr, cmp_items, &sort_ctx);
 }
 
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util)
+{
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, free_util);
+}
+
 struct string_list_item *unsorted_string_list_lookup(struct string_list *list,
 						     const char *string)
 {
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index fa6ba07853..3ad862a187 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -239,6 +239,12 @@ struct string_list_item *string_list_append_nodup(struct string_list *list, char
  */
 void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list);
 
+/**
+ * Sort the list and then remove duplicate entries.  If free_util is true,
+ * call free() on the util members of any items that have to be deleted.
+ */
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util);
+
 /**
  * Like `string_list_has_string()` but for unsorted lists. Linear in
  * size of the list.
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index 6b2b16671c..9d11a2f3fb 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -431,6 +431,40 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort_u(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "d", "c", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list)
 {
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
-- 
2.51.0

Re: [PATCH 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Amisha Chhajed]

On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 at 12:42, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
>
> Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > Unit tests in u-string-list.c does not cover several methods
> > in string-list, this gap in coverage makes it difficult to
> > ensure no regressions are introduced in future changes.
> >
> > Add unit tests for the following methods to enhance coverage:
> > string_list_remove_empty_items()
> > unsorted_string_list_has_string()
> > unsorted_string_list_delete_item()
> > string_list_has_string()
> > string_list_insert()
> > string_list_sort()
> > string_list_remove()
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
> > ---
> >  t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 197 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >  1 file changed, 197 insertions(+)
> >
> > diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> > index a2457d7b1e..6b4b858330 100644
> > --- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> > +++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> > @@ -243,6 +243,133 @@ void test_string_list__filter(void)
> > ...
> > +static void t_string_list_insert(struct string_list *expected_strings, ...)
> > +{
> > +     struct string_list strings_to_insert = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> > +     struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> > +     va_list ap;
> > +
> > +     va_start(ap, expected_strings);
> > +     t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&strings_to_insert, 0, ap);
> > +     va_end(ap);
> > +
> > +     for (int i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++) {
>
> As strings_to_insert.nr is of type size_t, even though int is plenty
> large enough in practice, the compiler will complain.
>
> > +             string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
> > +     }
>
> Also, lose the {} around a single statement block.

Done, Thanks for the review.

Re: [PATCH 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Junio C Hamano]

Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:

>> > +     for (int i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++) {
>>
>> As strings_to_insert.nr is of type size_t, even though int is plenty
>> large enough in practice, the compiler will complain.
>>
>> > +             string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
>> > +     }
>>
>> Also, lose the {} around a single statement block.
>
> Done, Thanks for the review.

Heh, that wasn't even a review but a knee-jerk reaction to compiler
warnings.

Re: [PATCH v2 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Junio C Hamano]

Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:

> +void test_string_list__remove(void)
> +{
> +	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
> +	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "");
> +
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", NULL);
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "a", NULL);
> +	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "a");

Not a complaint, not a suggestion to change anything, but just an
observation.  While "remove" requires the string-list to be sorted,
its implementation does not seem to care if you by mistake fed an
unsorted string list.

After seeing this particular test that feeds a list with two "a"
and expects in the resulting list a single "a", I naturally wondered
which one of these two "a" survives and which one is dropped.

"remove" removes only one matching element that is picked at random
among the duplicates, but because the input is expected to be
sorted, these duplicate elements sit next to each other forming a
single strand of identical pearls.  The end result of picking one of
these pearls out would not be different no matter which one of them
you pick.  So the answer to my "which one of these 'a'?" question
turns out to be "you cannot tell, but it does not matter" ;-)

> +static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(struct string_list *expected_strings, struct string_list *list)
> +{
> +	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
> +	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__remove_empty_items(void)
> +{
> +	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", NULL);
> +	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);

Again, not a complaint, not a suggestion to change anything, but
just an observation.  As we saw earlier, "remove" is "remove just
one of many", but "remove_empty" is "remove all empties".  Simply
makes me wonder if the API looked more sane if we had "remove_all"
whose signature is the same as string_list_remove().

> +static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(struct string_list *expected_list, struct string_list *list, int i)

This is a way overlong line.

> +{
> +	unsorted_string_list_delete_item(list, i, 0);
> +
> +	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_list);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_delete_item(void)
> +{
> +	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "c", "b", NULL);
> +	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "d", "b", "c", NULL);
> +	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 1);

This demonstrates one peculiar aspect of this "delete item from
unsorted list" API function very well.  If one is expected to name
an element to delete by specifying its position in the list, it is
natural to expect that the elements in the list to be ordered in
some way that is meaningful to the application [*], and the API is
not expected to shuffle the resulting list in such a way that makes
further use of the list cumbersome.  Yet, the function does exactly
that by moving the element at the end of the list to the place the
location of the deleted element.

	Side note: [*] The "unsorted" in the name of the function is
	a reference to the fact that the elements are not sorted by
	the natural order string-list API uses to allow it to binary
	search; it does not mean the elements are entirely randomly
	thrown in and it shouldn't mean that the application cannot
	rely on

The only caller of this function is git.c::list_cmds() that is asked
to remove the helper binaries (i.e., those whose name contains
"--"), so even though git.c::commands[] list is in sorted order, and
the list_builtins() function slurps them into a working list with
string_list_append(), processing "nohelpers" will splinkle command
names from near the tail of the list into random places in the
middle of the list.

> +	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
> +	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> \ No newline at end of file

Don't.  Always end a text file with a complete line, please.

Re: [PATCH v2 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Junio C Hamano]

Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> writes:

> Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
> immdediately after calling string_list_sort(), understandably
> as the former requires string-list to be sorted, it is clear
> that these places are sorting only to remove duplicates and
> for no other reason.
>
> Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u that combines
> these two calls that often appear together, to simplify
> these callsites. Replace the current calls of those methods with
> string_list_sort_u().

After this, only two callers of string_list_remove_duplicates()
remain in the codebase.

The one in builtin/fetch.c::cmd_fetch() smells somewhat fishy.  It
prepares a string_list "list", populates it with for_each_remote()
by appending remotes found in the configuration when asked to do
"--all", or append named ones with "--multiple", and then calls
"remove duplicates" without sorting the resulting list first.

 - A test should be able to demonstrate that the call to
   string_list_remove_duplicates() is not operating on a sorted
   string list.

 - Once a breakage is demonstrated, we need to devise a fix.
   Sorting the string list before removing would certainly fix the
   duplicates removal, but it will change the order in which the
   remotes are consulted.  I think it is currently "whatever order
   these remotes appear in your configuration file(s)", but that
   does not mean it is a random order.  It is very likely that they
   are in the order the user has learned to expect the remotes are
   to be consulted, so "sort and then dedup" might appear as a
   regression in behaviour.  I dunno.

The one in builtin/help.c::list_config_help() is somewhat fishy as
well.  I didn't read it too carefully, but it walks over keys which
is in sorted string_list, and sometimes pushes the key intact to
keys_uniq, and some other times munges the key and pushes the result
to keys_uniq.  I do not know if presence of these these munged keys
in the keys_uniq string list breaks the sortedness of keys_uniq.
If keys_uniq is *not* sorted, then running "remove duplicates" would
be broken, of course.  Again, a test should be able to demonstrate
if this is the case, and we should fix it as well if it is broken.

Thanks.

Re: [PATCH v2 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Amisha Chhajed]

> The one in builtin/fetch.c::cmd_fetch() smells somewhat fishy.  It
> prepares a string_list "list", populates it with for_each_remote()
> by appending remotes found in the configuration when asked to do
> "--all", or append named ones with "--multiple", and then calls
> "remove duplicates" without sorting the resulting list first.
>
>  - A test should be able to demonstrate that the call to
>    string_list_remove_duplicates() is not operating on a sorted
>    string list.
>
>  - Once a breakage is demonstrated, we need to devise a fix.
>    Sorting the string list before removing would certainly fix the
>    duplicates removal, but it will change the order in which the
>    remotes are consulted.  I think it is currently "whatever order
>    these remotes appear in your configuration file(s)", but that
>    does not mean it is a random order.  It is very likely that they
>    are in the order the user has learned to expect the remotes are
>    to be consulted, so "sort and then dedup" might appear as a
>    regression in behaviour.  I dunno.

was able to make the behavior fail on test,
from file t5506-remote-groups.sh,

test_expect_success 'group with non-adjacent duplicate remotes causes
duplicate fetches (expected-to-fail)' '
mark fetch-dup &&
update_repos &&
git config --add remotes.dup one &&
git config --add remotes.dup two &&
git config --add remotes.dup one &&
rm -f .git/FETCH_HEAD &&
git -c fetch.parallel=3 remote update dup &&
repo_fetched two
'
gave log with command,
make -C t T=t5506-remote-groups.sh GIT_TEST_OPTS="-v"
from git/,

Fetching one
Fetching two
Fetching one
From one
   d1132c8..cceba7b  main       -> one/main
From two
   72c2514..57c13f4  main       -> two/main
From one
   d1132c8..cceba7b  main       -> one/main

error: fetching ref refs/remotes/one/main failed: incorrect old value provided
could not fetch 'one' (exit code: 1)

Did not see any test failures post replacing this call with string_list_sort_u()
but from the code, order of the list matters, and i think the expected
behaviour is
if any duplicate the first call of the item should only remain but i
am unsure if it is
achievable with the current sort and remove duplicate methods this is more of a,
if current_item in seen_set:
   pass
else:
   add(list, current_item)
   add(seen_set, current_item)
this preserves the order and maintains the time complexity and only
keeps the first occurence.


> The one in builtin/help.c::list_config_help() is somewhat fishy as
> well.  I didn't read it too carefully, but it walks over keys which
> is in sorted string_list, and sometimes pushes the key intact to
> keys_uniq, and some other times munges the key and pushes the result
> to keys_uniq.  I do not know if presence of these these munged keys
> in the keys_uniq string list breaks the sortedness of keys_uniq.
> If keys_uniq is *not* sorted, then running "remove duplicates" would
> be broken, of course.  Again, a test should be able to demonstrate
> if this is the case, and we should fix it as well if it is broken.

This one is a bit more complex,
there is a very specific case that would result in un-sorted behaviour
of the string-list
that is of form,
sorted: [aa*., aa.b]
post processing in &keys_uniq: [aa*, aa] (this is unsorted)
because ASCII value of * < . and the precedence in our code is . < * [1]
but this still works as remove_duplicates does not depend strictly on the sorted
property as we remove adjacent similar elements which would also work if similar
items are somehow grouped together, which they are under the conditions
of our code.

but sorted(x) != sorted(f(x)), and the processing we are doing also
does not depend
on the order of the elements so maybe shifting the sort below with
remove_duplicates
might work as a solution and would make the behaviour deterministic,
saw no failures
post shifting the sort down with it.

[1] Snippet from fetch.c
if (dot)
   cut = dot;
else if (wildcard && !tag)
   cut = wildcard;
else if (!wildcard && tag)
   cut = tag;
else
   cut = wildcard < tag ? wildcard : tag;

[PATCH v3 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Amisha Chhajed]

Unit tests in u-string-list.c does not cover several methods
in string-list, this gap in coverage makes it difficult to
ensure no regressions are introduced in future changes.

Add unit tests for the following methods to enhance coverage:
string_list_remove_empty_items()
unsorted_string_list_has_string()
unsorted_string_list_delete_item()
string_list_has_string()
string_list_insert()
string_list_sort()
string_list_remove()

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 209 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 209 insertions(+)

diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index a2457d7b1e..d469a06eca 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -243,6 +243,138 @@ void test_string_list__filter(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_has_string(
+	struct string_list *list,
+	const char *string,
+	int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = string_list_has_string(list, string);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "", 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 1);
+	t_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 0);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_insert(struct string_list *expected_strings, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list strings_to_insert = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, expected_strings);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&strings_to_insert, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++)
+		string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
+
+	t_string_list_equal(&list, expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&strings_to_insert, 0);
+	string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__insert(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "b", "a", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "c", "b", "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "a", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_sort(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "c", "a", "b", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort(&list, "a", "a", "b", "c", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_remove(
+	struct string_list *expected_strings,
+	struct string_list *list,
+	char const *str)
+{
+	string_list_remove(list, str, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "a");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "e");
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_duplicates(struct string_list *list, ...)
 {
 	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
@@ -304,3 +436,80 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
+
+static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(
+	struct string_list *expected_strings,
+	struct string_list *list)
+{
+	string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__remove_empty_items(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "", "b", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(
+	struct string_list *list,
+	const char *str, int expected)
+{
+	int has_string = unsorted_string_list_has_string(list, str);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_has_string(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "d", "a", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 0);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 1);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
+static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(
+	struct string_list *expected_list,
+	struct string_list *list,
+	int i)
+{
+	unsorted_string_list_delete_item(list, i, 0);
+
+	t_string_list_equal(list, expected_list);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_delete_item(void)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "d", "b", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 1);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 0);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "d", "c", "b", NULL);
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0,  "a", "d", "c", "b", "d", NULL);
+	t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 4);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
-- 
2.51.0

[PATCH v3 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Amisha Chhajed]

Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
immdediately after calling string_list_sort(), understandably
as the former requires string-list to be sorted, it is clear
that these places are sorting only to remove duplicates and
for no other reason.

Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u that combines
these two calls that often appear together, to simplify
these callsites. Replace the current calls of those methods with
string_list_sort_u().

Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
---
 builtin/clone.c              |  3 +--
 builtin/fast-export.c        |  3 +--
 builtin/pack-objects.c       |  6 ++----
 builtin/sparse-checkout.c    |  6 ++----
 help.c                       |  3 +--
 notes.c                      |  3 +--
 string-list.c                |  6 ++++++
 string-list.h                |  6 ++++++
 t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 9 files changed, 54 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index b19b302b06..f05364c268 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1136,8 +1136,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,
 		int val;
 
 		/* remove duplicates */
-		string_list_sort(&option_recurse_submodules);
-		string_list_remove_duplicates(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
+		string_list_sort_u(&option_recurse_submodules, 0);
 
 		/*
 		 * NEEDSWORK: In a multi-working-tree world, this needs to be
diff --git a/builtin/fast-export.c b/builtin/fast-export.c
index b90da5e616..0c5d2386d8 100644
--- a/builtin/fast-export.c
+++ b/builtin/fast-export.c
@@ -1118,8 +1118,7 @@ static void get_tags_and_duplicates(struct rev_cmdline_info *info)
 			free(full_name);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&extra_refs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&extra_refs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&extra_refs, 0);
 }
 
 static void handle_tags_and_duplicates(struct string_list *extras)
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index ca44b7894f..649dab4ed0 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3849,10 +3849,8 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(struct rev_info *revs)
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&include_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&include_packs, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&exclude_packs);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&exclude_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&include_packs, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&exclude_packs, 0);
 
 	repo_for_each_pack(the_repository, p) {
 		const char *pack_name = pack_basename(p);
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 15d51e60a8..25de7692c9 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -292,8 +292,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 			string_list_insert(&sl, pe->pattern);
 	}
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	fprintf(fp, "/*\n!/*/\n");
 
@@ -316,8 +315,7 @@ static void write_cone_to_file(FILE *fp, struct pattern_list *pl)
 
 	strbuf_release(&parent_pattern);
 
-	string_list_sort(&sl);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sl, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sl, 0);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < sl.nr; i++) {
 		char *pattern = escaped_pattern(sl.items[i].string);
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 20e114432d..2070095b6f 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -420,8 +420,7 @@ void list_cmds_by_config(struct string_list *list)
 	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "completion.commands", &cmd_list))
 		return;
 
-	string_list_sort(list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
 
 	while (*cmd_list) {
 		struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 8e00fd8c47..090c48bbd5 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -921,8 +921,7 @@ int combine_notes_cat_sort_uniq(struct object_id *cur_oid,
 	if (string_list_add_note_lines(&sort_uniq_list, new_oid))
 		goto out;
 	string_list_remove_empty_items(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
-	string_list_sort(&sort_uniq_list);
-	string_list_remove_duplicates(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
+	string_list_sort_u(&sort_uniq_list, 0);
 
 	/* create a new blob object from sort_uniq_list */
 	if (for_each_string_list(&sort_uniq_list,
diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index 08dc00984c..020ed8fef7 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@ void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list)
 	QSORT_S(list->items, list->nr, cmp_items, &sort_ctx);
 }
 
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util)
+{
+	string_list_sort(list);
+	string_list_remove_duplicates(list, free_util);
+}
+
 struct string_list_item *unsorted_string_list_lookup(struct string_list *list,
 						     const char *string)
 {
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index fa6ba07853..3ad862a187 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -239,6 +239,12 @@ struct string_list_item *string_list_append_nodup(struct string_list *list, char
  */
 void string_list_sort(struct string_list *list);
 
+/**
+ * Sort the list and then remove duplicate entries.  If free_util is true,
+ * call free() on the util members of any items that have to be deleted.
+ */
+void string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, int free_util);
+
 /**
  * Like `string_list_has_string()` but for unsorted lists. Linear in
  * size of the list.
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
index d469a06eca..7ad84cc1cd 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
@@ -437,6 +437,40 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
 	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
 }
 
+static void t_string_list_sort_u(struct string_list *list, ...)
+{
+	struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, list);
+	t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	string_list_sort_u(list, 0);
+	t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
+
+	string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
+}
+
+void test_string_list__sort_u(void)
+{
+	struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
+
+	t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "a", "a", "d", "c", "c", NULL);
+	t_string_list_sort_u(&list, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
+
+	t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+}
+
 static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(
 	struct string_list *expected_strings,
 	struct string_list *list)
-- 
2.51.0

Re: [PATCH v3 1/2] u-string-list: add unit tests for string-list methods

[Amisha Chhajed]

On Thu, 29 Jan 2026 at 17:42, Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Unit tests in u-string-list.c does not cover several methods
> in string-list, this gap in coverage makes it difficult to
> ensure no regressions are introduced in future changes.
>
> Add unit tests for the following methods to enhance coverage:
> string_list_remove_empty_items()
> unsorted_string_list_has_string()
> unsorted_string_list_delete_item()
> string_list_has_string()
> string_list_insert()
> string_list_sort()
> string_list_remove()
>
> Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
> ---
>  t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c | 209 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 209 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> index a2457d7b1e..d469a06eca 100644
> --- a/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> +++ b/t/unit-tests/u-string-list.c
> @@ -243,6 +243,138 @@ void test_string_list__filter(void)
>         t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
>  }
>
> +static void t_string_list_has_string(
> +       struct string_list *list,
> +       const char *string,
> +       int expected)
> +{
> +       int has_string = string_list_has_string(list, string);
> +       cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__has_string(void)
> +{
> +       struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
> +       t_string_list_has_string(&list, "", 0);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
> +       t_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
> +       t_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 1);
> +       t_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 0);
> +
> +       t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> +
> +static void t_string_list_insert(struct string_list *expected_strings, ...)
> +{
> +       struct string_list strings_to_insert = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +       struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +       va_list ap;
> +
> +       va_start(ap, expected_strings);
> +       t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&strings_to_insert, 0, ap);
> +       va_end(ap);
> +
> +       for (size_t i = 0; i < strings_to_insert.nr; i++)
> +               string_list_insert(&list, strings_to_insert.items[i].string);
> +
> +       t_string_list_equal(&list, expected_strings);
> +
> +       string_list_clear(&strings_to_insert, 0);
> +       string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__insert(void)
> +{
> +       struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
> +       t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, NULL);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "b", "a", "a", "b", NULL);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "c", "b", "a", "c", "b", NULL);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "", "a", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_insert(&expected_strings, "a", "a", "a", "", NULL);
> +
> +       t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
> +}
> +
> +static void t_string_list_sort(struct string_list *list, ...)
> +{
> +       struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +       va_list ap;
> +
> +       va_start(ap, list);
> +       t_vcreate_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, ap);
> +       va_end(ap);
> +
> +       string_list_sort(list);
> +       t_string_list_equal(list, &expected_strings);
> +
> +       string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__sort(void)
> +{
> +       struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
> +       t_string_list_sort(&list, NULL);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "", "a", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_sort(&list, "", "a", "b", NULL);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "c", "a", "b", "a", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_sort(&list, "a", "a", "b", "c", NULL);
> +
> +       t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> +
> +static void t_string_list_remove(
> +       struct string_list *expected_strings,
> +       struct string_list *list,
> +       char const *str)
> +{
> +       string_list_remove(list, str, 0);
> +       t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__remove(void)
> +{
> +       struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +       struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, NULL);
> +       t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "");
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "a", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "a");
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "b", NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "b", "c", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "d", NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "c");
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "b", "c", "d", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_remove(&expected_strings, &list, "e");
> +
> +       t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
> +       t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> +
>  static void t_string_list_remove_duplicates(struct string_list *list, ...)
>  {
>         struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> @@ -304,3 +436,80 @@ void test_string_list__remove_duplicates(void)
>
>         t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
>  }
> +
> +static void t_string_list_remove_empty_items(
> +       struct string_list *expected_strings,
> +       struct string_list *list)
> +{
> +       string_list_remove_empty_items(list, 0);
> +       t_string_list_equal(list, expected_strings);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__remove_empty_items(void)
> +{
> +       struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +       struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", "", "", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "b", NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "", "b", "", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_remove_empty_items(&expected_strings, &list);
> +
> +       t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
> +       t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> +
> +static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(
> +       struct string_list *list,
> +       const char *str, int expected)
> +{
> +       int has_string = unsorted_string_list_has_string(list, str);
> +       cl_assert_equal_i(has_string, expected);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_has_string(void)
> +{
> +       struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "b", "d", "a", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "a", 1);
> +       t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "b", 1);
> +       t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "c", 0);
> +       t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_has_string(&list, "d", 1);
> +
> +       t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> +
> +static void t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(
> +       struct string_list *expected_list,
> +       struct string_list *list,
> +       int i)
> +{
> +       unsorted_string_list_delete_item(list, i, 0);
> +
> +       t_string_list_equal(list, expected_list);
> +}
> +
> +void test_string_list__unsorted_string_list_delete_item(void)
> +{
> +       struct string_list expected_strings = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +       struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "c", "b", NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "a", "d", "b", "c", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 1);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0, "", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 0);
> +
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&expected_strings, 0, "a", "d", "c", "b", NULL);
> +       t_create_string_list_dup(&list, 0,  "a", "d", "c", "b", "d", NULL);
> +       t_string_list_unsorted_string_list_delete_item(&expected_strings, &list, 4);
> +
> +       t_string_list_clear(&expected_strings, 0);
> +       t_string_list_clear(&list, 0);
> +}
> --
> 2.51.0
>
Fixed extra EOF lines and overlong lines in v3.

Re: [PATCH 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Kristoffer Haugsbakk]

On Sun, Jan 25, 2026, at 21:15, Amisha Chhajed wrote:
> Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
> immdediately after calling string_list_sort(), understandably

nit: s/immdediately/immediately

> as the former requires string-list to be sorted, it is clear
> that these places are sorting only to remove duplicates and
> for no other reason.
>
> Introduce a helper function string_list_sort_u that combines
> these two calls that often appear together, to simplify
> these callsites. Replace the current calls of those methods with
> string_list_sort_u().
>
> Signed-off-by: Amisha Chhajed <amishhhaaaa@gmail.com>
> ---
>[snip]

Re: [PATCH 2/2] string-list: add string_list_sort_u() that mimics "sort -u"

[Junio C Hamano]

"Kristoffer Haugsbakk" <kristofferhaugsbakk@fastmail.com> writes:

> On Sun, Jan 25, 2026, at 21:15, Amisha Chhajed wrote:
>> Many callsites of string_list_remove_duplicates() call it
>> immdediately after calling string_list_sort(), understandably
>
> nit: s/immdediately/immediately

Thanks for good eyes, but I've merged this version already to
'next' X-<.