From: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@nvidia.com>
To: "Yury Norov" <yury.norov@gmail.com>,
"Miguel Ojeda" <ojeda@kernel.org>,
"Boqun Feng" <boqun@kernel.org>, "Gary Guo" <gary@garyguo.net>,
"Björn Roy Baron" <bjorn3_gh@protonmail.com>,
"Benno Lossin" <lossin@kernel.org>,
"Andreas Hindborg" <a.hindborg@kernel.org>,
"Alice Ryhl" <aliceryhl@google.com>,
"Trevor Gross" <tmgross@umich.edu>,
"Danilo Krummrich" <dakr@kernel.org>,
"Daniel Almeida" <daniel.almeida@collabora.com>,
"Tamir Duberstein" <tamird@kernel.org>,
"Onur Özkan" <work@onurozkan.dev>,
"David Airlie" <airlied@gmail.com>,
"Simona Vetter" <simona@ffwll.ch>
Cc: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@nvidia.com>,
John Hubbard <jhubbard@nvidia.com>,
Alistair Popple <apopple@nvidia.com>,
Timur Tabi <ttabi@nvidia.com>,
Eliot Courtney <ecourtney@nvidia.com>,
Zhi Wang <zhiw@nvidia.com>,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, rust-for-linux@vger.kernel.org,
nova-gpu@lists.linux.dev, dri-devel@lists.freedesktop.org
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] rust: add functions and traits for lossless integer conversions
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2026 19:15:14 +0900 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260727-as_casts-v1-1-6ea704ff25d8@nvidia.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260727-as_casts-v1-0-6ea704ff25d8@nvidia.com>
The core library's `From` implementations do not cover conversions that
are not portable or future-proof. For instance, even though it is safe
today, `From<usize>` is not implemented for `u64` because of the
possibility of supporting larger-than-64bit architectures in the future.
However, the kernel supports a narrower set of architectures, with a
considerable amount of code that is architecture-specific. This makes it
helpful and desirable to provide more infallible conversions, lest we
need to rely on the `as` keyword and carry the risk of silently losing
data.
Thus, introduce a new module `num::casts` that provides safe const
functions performing more conversions allowed by the build target, as
well as `FromSafeCast` and `IntoSafeCast` traits that are just
extensions of `From` and `Into` to conversions that are known to be
lossless.
Suggested-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/rust-for-linux/DDK4KADWJHMG.1FUPL3SDR26XF@kernel.org/
Signed-off-by: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@nvidia.com>
---
rust/kernel/num.rs | 3 +
rust/kernel/num/casts.rs | 248 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 251 insertions(+)
diff --git a/rust/kernel/num.rs b/rust/kernel/num.rs
index 8532b511384c..0788c153916c 100644
--- a/rust/kernel/num.rs
+++ b/rust/kernel/num.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@
use core::ops;
pub mod bounded;
+pub mod casts;
+
pub use bounded::*;
+pub use casts::*;
/// Designates unsigned primitive types.
pub enum Unsigned {}
diff --git a/rust/kernel/num/casts.rs b/rust/kernel/num/casts.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..56feda78f0a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust/kernel/num/casts.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+//! Helpers for performing lossless integer casts.
+//!
+//! The `as` keyword can be used to perform casts between integer types, but it unfortunately makes
+//! no distinction between casts that are lossless, and casts from a larger type into a smaller one
+//! that might silently strip data away. Thus, its use in the kernel is discouraged in favor of
+//! [`From`] implementations.
+//!
+//! Conversely, there are casts that are lossless depending on the build architecture (such as
+//! casting [`usize`] to [`u64`] on 32 or 64 bit archs), but not supported by [`From`]
+//! implementations in the standard library because they are not portable. It does however make
+//! sense for the kernel to support these, if only for code that is architecture-specific.
+//!
+//! This module provides ways to perform such conversions safely:
+//!
+//! - A series of const functions (e.g. [`usize_as_u64`]) supporting safe conversions in const
+//! context. Conversions supported by [`From`] implementations in the standard library are also
+//! covered as the [`From`] trait cannot be used in const context.
+//! - Two extension traits, [`FromSafeCast`] and [`IntoSafeCast`], providing conversion methods
+//! similar to [`From`] and [`Into`] for conversions that are safe to perform on the current
+//! architecture, but not supported by the standard library.
+//! - Another series of const functions (e.g. [`u64_into_u8`]) supporting the conversion of a const
+//! value from a larger type into a smaller one. This is useful if a constant is available in a
+//! larger type, but needs to be used as a smaller one that can accommodate its value.
+//!
+//! # Examples
+//!
+//! ```
+//! use kernel::num::{self, FromSafeCast, IntoSafeCast};
+//!
+//! // Conversion from const context.
+//! const USIZED_CONST: usize = num::u8_as_usize(255u8);
+//!
+//! // Non-const conversions.
+//! let a = u64::from_safe_cast(4096usize);
+//! let b: u64 = 4096usize.into_safe_cast();
+//! ```
+
+use kernel::macros::paste;
+use kernel::prelude::*;
+
+/// Implements safe `as` conversion functions from a given type into a series of target types.
+///
+/// These functions can be used in place of `as`, with the guarantee that they will be lossless.
+macro_rules! impl_safe_as {
+ ($from:ty as { $($into:ty),* }) => {
+ $(
+ paste! {
+ #[doc = ::core::concat!(
+ "Losslessly converts a [`",
+ ::core::stringify!($from),
+ "`] into a [`",
+ ::core::stringify!($into),
+ "`].")]
+ ///
+ /// This conversion is allowed as it is always lossless. Prefer this over the `as`
+ /// keyword to ensure no lossy casts are performed.
+ ///
+ /// This is for use from a `const` context. For non `const` use, prefer the
+ /// [`FromSafeCast`] and [`IntoSafeCast`] traits.
+ ///
+ /// # Examples
+ ///
+ /// ```
+ /// use kernel::num;
+ ///
+ #[doc = ::core::concat!(
+ "assert_eq!(num::",
+ ::core::stringify!($from),
+ "_as_",
+ ::core::stringify!($into),
+ "(1",
+ ::core::stringify!($from),
+ "), 1",
+ ::core::stringify!($into),
+ ");")]
+ /// ```
+ #[allow(unused)]
+ #[inline(always)]
+ pub const fn [<$from _as_ $into>](value: $from) -> $into {
+ ::kernel::static_assert!(size_of::<$into>() >= size_of::<$from>());
+
+ value as $into
+ }
+ }
+ )*
+ };
+}
+
+impl_safe_as!(u8 as { u16, u32, u64, usize });
+impl_safe_as!(u16 as { u32, u64, usize });
+impl_safe_as!(u32 as { u64, usize } );
+// `u64` and `usize` have the same size on 64-bit platforms.
+#[cfg(CONFIG_64BIT)]
+impl_safe_as!(u64 as { usize } );
+
+// A `usize` fits into a `u64` on 32 and 64-bit platforms.
+#[cfg(any(CONFIG_32BIT, CONFIG_64BIT))]
+impl_safe_as!(usize as { u64 });
+
+// A `usize` fits into a `u32` on 32-bit platforms.
+#[cfg(CONFIG_32BIT)]
+impl_safe_as!(usize as { u32 });
+
+/// Extension trait providing guaranteed lossless cast to `Self` from `T`.
+///
+/// The standard library's `From` implementations do not cover conversions that are not portable or
+/// future-proof. For instance, even though it is safe today, `From<usize>` is not implemented for
+/// [`u64`] because of the possibility of needing to support larger-than-64bit architectures in the
+/// future.
+///
+/// The workaround is to either deal with the error handling of [`TryFrom`] for an operation that
+/// technically cannot fail, or to use the `as` keyword, which can silently strip data if the
+/// destination type is smaller than the source.
+///
+/// Both options are hardly acceptable for the kernel. It is also a much more architecture
+/// dependent environment, supporting only 32 and 64 bit architectures, with some modules
+/// explicitly depending on a specific bus width that could greatly benefit from infallible
+/// conversion operations.
+///
+/// Thus this extension trait that provides, for the architecture the kernel is built for, safe
+/// conversion between types for which such cast is lossless.
+///
+/// In other words, this trait is implemented if, for the current build target and with `t: T`, the
+/// `t as Self` operation is completely lossless.
+///
+/// Prefer this over the `as` keyword to ensure no lossy casts are performed.
+///
+/// If you need to perform a conversion in `const` context, use [`u64_as_usize`], [`u32_as_usize`],
+/// [`usize_as_u64`], etc.
+///
+/// # Examples
+///
+/// ```
+/// use kernel::num::FromSafeCast;
+///
+/// assert_eq!(usize::from_safe_cast(0xf00u32), 0xf00usize);
+/// ```
+pub trait FromSafeCast<T> {
+ /// Create a `Self` from `value`. This operation is guaranteed to be lossless.
+ fn from_safe_cast(value: T) -> Self;
+}
+
+impl FromSafeCast<usize> for u64 {
+ fn from_safe_cast(value: usize) -> Self {
+ usize_as_u64(value)
+ }
+}
+
+#[cfg(CONFIG_32BIT)]
+impl FromSafeCast<usize> for u32 {
+ fn from_safe_cast(value: usize) -> Self {
+ usize_as_u32(value)
+ }
+}
+
+impl FromSafeCast<u32> for usize {
+ fn from_safe_cast(value: u32) -> Self {
+ u32_as_usize(value)
+ }
+}
+
+#[cfg(CONFIG_64BIT)]
+impl FromSafeCast<u64> for usize {
+ fn from_safe_cast(value: u64) -> Self {
+ u64_as_usize(value)
+ }
+}
+
+/// Counterpart to the [`FromSafeCast`] trait, i.e. this trait is to [`FromSafeCast`] what [`Into`]
+/// is to [`From`].
+///
+/// See the documentation of [`FromSafeCast`] for the motivation.
+///
+/// # Examples
+///
+/// ```
+/// use kernel::num::IntoSafeCast;
+///
+/// assert_eq!(0xf00usize, 0xf00u32.into_safe_cast());
+/// ```
+pub trait IntoSafeCast<T> {
+ /// Convert `self` into a `T`. This operation is guaranteed to be lossless.
+ fn into_safe_cast(self) -> T;
+}
+
+/// Reverse operation for types implementing [`FromSafeCast`].
+impl<S, T> IntoSafeCast<T> for S
+where
+ T: FromSafeCast<S>,
+{
+ fn into_safe_cast(self) -> T {
+ T::from_safe_cast(self)
+ }
+}
+
+/// Implements lossless conversion of a constant from a larger type into a smaller one.
+macro_rules! impl_const_into {
+ ($from:ty => { $($into:ty),* }) => {
+ $(
+ paste! {
+ #[doc = ::core::concat!(
+ "Performs a build-time safe conversion of a [`",
+ ::core::stringify!($from),
+ "`] constant value into a [`",
+ ::core::stringify!($into),
+ "`].")]
+ ///
+ /// This checks at compile-time that the conversion is lossless, and triggers a build
+ /// error if it isn't.
+ ///
+ /// # Examples
+ ///
+ /// ```
+ /// use kernel::num;
+ ///
+ /// // Succeeds because the value of the source fits into the destination's type.
+ #[doc = ::core::concat!(
+ "assert_eq!(num::",
+ ::core::stringify!($from),
+ "_into_",
+ ::core::stringify!($into),
+ "::<1",
+ ::core::stringify!($from),
+ ">(), 1",
+ ::core::stringify!($into),
+ ");")]
+ /// ```
+ #[allow(unused)]
+ pub const fn [<$from _into_ $into>]<const N: $from>() -> $into {
+ // Make sure that the target type is smaller than the source one.
+ ::kernel::static_assert!($from::BITS >= $into::BITS);
+ // CAST: we statically enforced above that `$from` is larger than `$into`, so the
+ // `as` conversion will be lossless.
+ build_assert!(N >= $into::MIN as $from && N <= $into::MAX as $from);
+
+ N as $into
+ }
+ }
+ )*
+ };
+}
+
+impl_const_into!(usize => { u8, u16, u32 });
+impl_const_into!(u64 => { u8, u16, u32 });
+impl_const_into!(u32 => { u8, u16 });
+impl_const_into!(u16 => { u8 });
--
2.55.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-07-27 10:15 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 6+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-07-27 10:15 [PATCH 0/2] rust: add functions and traits for lossless integer conversions Alexandre Courbot
2026-07-27 10:15 ` Alexandre Courbot [this message]
2026-07-27 10:28 ` [PATCH 1/2] " Gary Guo
2026-07-27 11:10 ` Miguel Ojeda
2026-07-27 11:19 ` Danilo Krummrich
2026-07-27 10:15 ` [PATCH 2/2] gpu: nova-core: use kernel lossless integer conversion module Alexandre Courbot
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