Re: [PATCH 01/40] lib/string_helpers: Drop space in string_get_size's output

Andy Shevchenko
2023-05-03T06:30:55Z

On Wed, May 3, 2023 at 5:07 AM Kent Overstreet
<kent.overstreet@linux.dev> wrote:
> On Tue, May 02, 2023 at 06:19:27PM +0300, Andy Shevchenko wrote:
> > On Tue, May 2, 2023 at 9:22 AM Kent Overstreet
> > <kent.overstreet@linux.dev> wrote:
> > > On Tue, May 02, 2023 at 08:33:57AM +0300, Andy Shevchenko wrote:
> > > > Actually instead of producing zillions of variants, do a %p extension
> > > > to the printf() and that's it. We have, for example, %pt with T and
> > > > with space to follow users that want one or the other variant. Same
> > > > can be done with string_get_size().
> > >
> > > God no.
> >
> > Any elaboration what's wrong with that?
>
> I'm really not a fan of %p extensions in general (they are what people
> reach for because we can't standardize on a common string output API),

The whole story behind, for example, %pt is to _standardize_ the
output of the same stanza in the kernel.

> but when we'd be passing it bare integers the lack of type safety would
> be a particularly big footgun.

There is no difference to any other place in the kernel where we can
shoot into our foot.

> > God no for zillion APIs for almost the same. Today you want space,
> > tomorrow some other (special) delimiter.
>
> No, I just want to delete the space and output numbers the same way
> everyone else does. And if we are stuck with two string_get_size()
> functions, %p extensions in no way improve the situation.

I think it's exactly for the opposite, i.e. standardize that output
once and for all.

--
With Best Regards,
Andy Shevchenko