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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2022-05-25 21:17:41 +0300
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2022-05-25 21:17:41 +0300
commit88a618920e9baabc1780479e2fbb68e5551d0563 (patch)
tree49b4462b584b994e4a9f36c0ffe088f49f3e5392 /Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst
parent537e62c865dcb9b91d07ed83f8615b71fa0b51bb (diff)
parentb86f46d5ce3e7497930be931a9a9e57480f0baff (diff)
downloadlinux-88a618920e9baabc1780479e2fbb68e5551d0563.tar.xz
Merge tag 'docs-5.19' of git://git.lwn.net/linux
Pull documentation updates from Jonathan Corbet: "It was a moderately busy cycle for documentation; highlights include: - After a long period of inactivity, the Japanese translations are seeing some much-needed maintenance and updating. - Reworked IOMMU documentation - Some new documentation for static-analysis tools - A new overall structure for the memory-management documentation. This is an LSFMM outcome that, it is hoped, will help encourage developers to fill in the many gaps. Optimism is eternal...but hopefully it will work. - More Chinese translations. Plus the usual typo fixes, updates, etc" * tag 'docs-5.19' of git://git.lwn.net/linux: (70 commits) docs: pdfdocs: Add space for chapter counts >= 100 in TOC docs/zh_CN: Add dev-tools/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst Chinese translation input: Docs: correct ntrig.rst typo input: Docs: correct atarikbd.rst typos MAINTAINERS: Become the docs/zh_CN maintainer docs/zh_CN: fix devicetree usage-model translation mm,doc: Add new documentation structure Documentation: drop more IDE boot options and ide-cd.rst Documentation/process: use scripts/get_maintainer.pl on patches MAINTAINERS: Add entry for DOCUMENTATION/JAPANESE docs/trans/ja_JP/howto: Don't mention specific kernel versions docs/ja_JP/SubmittingPatches: Request summaries for commit references docs/ja_JP/SubmittingPatches: Add Suggested-by as a standard signature docs/ja_JP/SubmittingPatches: Randy has moved docs/ja_JP/SubmittingPatches: Suggest the use of scripts/get_maintainer.pl docs/ja_JP/SubmittingPatches: Update GregKH links Documentation/sysctl: document max_rcu_stall_to_panic Documentation: add missing angle bracket in cgroup-v2 doc Documentation: dev-tools: use literal block instead of code-block docs/zh_CN: add vm numa translation ...
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@@ -115,3 +115,66 @@ that none of these errors are occurring during the test.
Some of these tools integrate with KUnit or kselftest and will
automatically fail tests if an issue is detected.
+Static Analysis Tools
+=====================
+
+In addition to testing a running kernel, one can also analyze kernel source code
+directly (**at compile time**) using **static analysis** tools. The tools
+commonly used in the kernel allow one to inspect the whole source tree or just
+specific files within it. They make it easier to detect and fix problems during
+the development process.
+
+Sparse can help test the kernel by performing type-checking, lock checking,
+value range checking, in addition to reporting various errors and warnings while
+examining the code. See the Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst documentation
+page for details on how to use it.
+
+Smatch extends Sparse and provides additional checks for programming logic
+mistakes such as missing breaks in switch statements, unused return values on
+error checking, forgetting to set an error code in the return of an error path,
+etc. Smatch also has tests against more serious issues such as integer
+overflows, null pointer dereferences, and memory leaks. See the project page at
+http://smatch.sourceforge.net/.
+
+Coccinelle is another static analyzer at our disposal. Coccinelle is often used
+to aid refactoring and collateral evolution of source code, but it can also help
+to avoid certain bugs that occur in common code patterns. The types of tests
+available include API tests, tests for correct usage of kernel iterators, checks
+for the soundness of free operations, analysis of locking behavior, and further
+tests known to help keep consistent kernel usage. See the
+Documentation/dev-tools/coccinelle.rst documentation page for details.
+
+Beware, though, that static analysis tools suffer from **false positives**.
+Errors and warns need to be evaluated carefully before attempting to fix them.
+
+When to use Sparse and Smatch
+-----------------------------
+
+Sparse does type checking, such as verifying that annotated variables do not
+cause endianness bugs, detecting places that use ``__user`` pointers improperly,
+and analyzing the compatibility of symbol initializers.
+
+Smatch does flow analysis and, if allowed to build the function database, it
+also does cross function analysis. Smatch tries to answer questions like where
+is this buffer allocated? How big is it? Can this index be controlled by the
+user? Is this variable larger than that variable?
+
+It's generally easier to write checks in Smatch than it is to write checks in
+Sparse. Nevertheless, there are some overlaps between Sparse and Smatch checks.
+
+Strong points of Smatch and Coccinelle
+--------------------------------------
+
+Coccinelle is probably the easiest for writing checks. It works before the
+pre-processor so it's easier to check for bugs in macros using Coccinelle.
+Coccinelle also creates patches for you, which no other tool does.
+
+For example, with Coccinelle you can do a mass conversion from
+``kmalloc(x * size, GFP_KERNEL)`` to ``kmalloc_array(x, size, GFP_KERNEL)``, and
+that's really useful. If you just created a Smatch warning and try to push the
+work of converting on to the maintainers they would be annoyed. You'd have to
+argue about each warning if can really overflow or not.
+
+Coccinelle does no analysis of variable values, which is the strong point of
+Smatch. On the other hand, Coccinelle allows you to do simple things in a simple
+way.