Re: [PATCH v2 08/17] kunit: test: add support for test abort

Brendan Higgins
2019-05-06T08:48:23Z

On Fri, May 3, 2019 at 5:33 AM Logan Gunthorpe <logang@deltatee.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 2019-05-03 12:48 a.m., Brendan Higgins wrote:
> > On Thu, May 2, 2019 at 8:15 PM Logan Gunthorpe <logang@deltatee.com> wrote:
> >> On 2019-05-01 5:01 p.m., Brendan Higgins wrote:
> >>> +/*
> >>> + * struct kunit_try_catch - provides a generic way to run code which might fail.
> >>> + * @context: used to pass user data to the try and catch functions.
> >>> + *
> >>> + * kunit_try_catch provides a generic, architecture independent way to execute
> >>> + * an arbitrary function of type kunit_try_catch_func_t which may bail out by
> >>> + * calling kunit_try_catch_throw(). If kunit_try_catch_throw() is called, @try
> >>> + * is stopped at the site of invocation and @catch is catch is called.
> >>
> >> I found some of the C++ comparisons in this series a bit distasteful but
> >> wasn't going to say anything until I saw the try catch.... But looking
> >> into the implementation it's just a thread that can exit early which
> >> seems fine to me. Just a poor choice of name I guess...
> >
> > Guilty as charged (I have a long history with C++, sorry). Would you
> > prefer I changed the name? I just figured that try-catch is a commonly
> > understood pattern that describes exactly what I am doing.
>
> It is a commonly understood pattern, but I don't think it's what the
> code is doing. Try-catch cleans up an entire stack and allows each level
> of the stack to apply local cleanup. This implementation simply exits a
> thread and has none of that complexity. To me, it seems like an odd
> abstraction here as it's really just a test runner that can exit early
> (though I haven't seen the follow-up UML implementation).

Yeah, that is closer to what the UML specific version does, but that's
a conversation for another time.

>
> I would prefer to see this cleaned up such that the abstraction matches
> more what's going on but I don't feel that strongly about it so I'll
> leave it up to you to figure out what's best unless other reviewers have
> stronger opinions.

Cool. Let's revisit this with the follow-up patchset.

>
> >>
> >> [snip]
> >>
> >>> +static void __noreturn kunit_abort(struct kunit *test)
> >>> +{
> >>> + kunit_set_death_test(test, true);
> >>> +
> >>> + kunit_try_catch_throw(&test->try_catch);
> >>> +
> >>> + /*
> >>> + * Throw could not abort from test.
> >>> + *
> >>> + * XXX: we should never reach this line! As kunit_try_catch_throw is
> >>> + * marked __noreturn.
> >>> + */
> >>> + WARN_ONCE(true, "Throw could not abort from test!\n");
> >>> +}
> >>> +
> >>> int kunit_init_test(struct kunit *test, const char *name)
> >>> {
> >>> spin_lock_init(&test->lock);
> >>> @@ -77,6 +103,7 @@ int kunit_init_test(struct kunit *test, const char *name)
> >>> test->name = name;
> >>> test->vprintk = kunit_vprintk;
> >>> test->fail = kunit_fail;
> >>> + test->abort = kunit_abort;
> >>
> >> There are a number of these function pointers which seem to be pointless
> >> to me as you only ever set them to one function. Just call the function
> >> directly. As it is, it is an unnecessary indirection for someone reading
> >> the code. If and when you have multiple implementations of the function
> >> then add the pointer. Don't assume you're going to need it later on and
> >> add all this maintenance burden if you never use it..
> >
> > Ah, yes, Frank (and probably others) previously asked me to remove
> > unnecessary method pointers; I removed all the totally unused ones. As
> > for these, I don't use them in this patchset, but I use them in my
> > patchsets that will follow up this one. These in particular are
> > present so that they can be mocked out for testing.
>
> Adding indirection and function pointers solely for the purpose of
> mocking out while testing doesn't sit well with me and I don't think it
> should be a pattern that's encouraged. Adding extra complexity like this
> to a design to make it unit-testable doesn't seem like something that
> makes sense in kernel code. Especially given that indirect calls are
> more expensive in the age of spectre.

Indirection is a pretty common method to make something mockable or
fakeable. Nevertheless, probably an easier discussion to have once we
have some examples to discuss.

>
> Also, mocking these particular functions seems like it's an artifact of
> how you've designed the try/catch abstraction. If the abstraction was
> more around an abort-able test runner then it doesn't make sense to need
> to mock out the abort/fail functions as you will be testing overly
> generic features of something that don't seem necessary to the
> implementation.
>
> >>
> >> [snip]
> >>
> >>> +void kunit_generic_try_catch_init(struct kunit_try_catch *try_catch)
> >>> +{
> >>> + try_catch->run = kunit_generic_run_try_catch;
> >>> + try_catch->throw = kunit_generic_throw;
> >>> +}
> >>
> >> Same here. There's only one implementation of try_catch and I can't
> >> really see any sensible justification for another implementation. Even
> >> if there is, add the indirection when the second implementation is
> >> added. This isn't C++ and we don't need to make everything a "method".
> >
> > These methods are for a UML specific implementation in a follow up
> > patchset, which is needed for some features like crash recovery, death
> > tests, and removes dependence on kthreads.
> >
> > I know this probably sounds like premature complexity. Arguably it is
> > in hindsight, but I wrote those features before I pulled out these
> > interfaces (they were actually both originally in this patchset, but I
> > dropped them to make this patchset easier to review). I can remove
> > these methods and add them back in when I actually use them in the
> > follow up patchsets if you prefer.
>
> Yes, remove them now and add them back when you use them in follow-up
> patches. If reviewers find problems with the follow-up patches or have a
> better suggestion on how to do what ever it is you are doing, then you
> just have this unnecessary code and there's wasted developer time and
> review bandwidth that will need to be spent cleaning it up.

Fair enough. Next patchset will have the remaining unused indirection
you pointed out removed.

Thanks!