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Re: [PATCH 3/3] clean: improve performance when removing lots of directories

From
Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com>
Date
Apr 8, 2015, 21:29 UTC
Message-ID
<CAPig+cSAMT1sECNueDckLMvBQ9q47L_t-wsnUeJ3WjCHvtOEAQ@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<CAMpP7NYixn4491EdPTDX+RQFr3VZfuAoUWZ4JXuYg2rqp9XTeg@mail.gmail.com>
On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 3:55 PM, erik elfström <erik.elfstrom@gmail.com> wrote:
Show 29 quoted lines
> On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 12:10 AM, Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, Apr 6, 2015 at 7:48 AM, Erik Elfström <erik.elfstrom@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> diff --git a/builtin/clean.c b/builtin/clean.c
>>> index 98c103f..e951bd9 100644
>>> --- a/builtin/clean.c
>>> +++ b/builtin/clean.c
>>> +static int is_git_repository(struct strbuf *path)
>>> +{
>>> +       int ret = 0;
>>> +       if (is_git_directory(path->buf))
>>> +               ret = 1;
>>> +       else {
>>> +               int orig_path_len = path->len;
>>> +               if (path->buf[orig_path_len - 1] != '/')
>>
>> Minor: I don't know how others feel about it, but I always find it a
>> bit disturbing to see a potential negative array access without a
>> safety check that orig_path_len is not 0, either directly in the
>> conditional or as a documenting assert().
>
> I think I would prefer to accept empty input and return false rather
> than assert. What to you think about:
>
> static int is_git_repository(struct strbuf *path)
> {
>     int ret = 0;
>     size_t orig_path_len = path->len;
>     if (orig_path_len == 0)
>         ret = 0;

My concern in raising the issue is that someone reviewing the patch or reading the code later won't necessarily know whether you took the potential negative array access into account and dismissed it as "can't happen", or if you overlooked the possibility altogether. Had there been an explicit check in the code (either assert() or other special handling such as returning 'false'), a comment in the code, or mention in the commit message, then it would have been clear that you took the case into consideration, and I wouldn't have worried about it.

As for the this proposed version of is_git_repository(), I don't have strong feelings, and can formulate arguments either way. If it doesn't make sense for is_git_repository() ever to be called with empty input, then assert() may be the better choice for documenting that fact. However, if you foresee some need for allowing empty input, or if you audited the functionality and found that it can already be called with empty input, then returning 'false' makes sense. Use your best judgment.

Show 30 quoted lines
>     else if (is_git_directory(path->buf))
>         ret = 1;
>     else {
>         if (path->buf[orig_path_len - 1] != '/')
>             strbuf_addch(path, '/');
>         strbuf_addstr(path, ".git");
>         if (is_git_directory(path->buf))
>             ret = 1;
>         strbuf_setlen(path, orig_path_len);
>     }
>
>     return ret;
> }
>
>
> Also I borrowed this pattern from remove_dirs and it has the same
> problem. Should I add something like this as a separate commit?
>
> diff --git a/builtin/clean.c b/builtin/clean.c
> index ccffd8a..88850e3 100644
> --- a/builtin/clean.c
> +++ b/builtin/clean.c
> @@ -201,6 +202,7 @@ static int remove_dirs(struct strbuf *path, const
> char *prefix, int force_flag,
>                 return res;
>         }
>
> +       assert(original_len > 0 && "expects non-empty path");
>         if (path->buf[original_len - 1] != '/')
>                 strbuf_addch(path, '/');

I personally wouldn't mind such a patch. (I'm not sure that the string within the assert() adds much value, and it's a not-much-used idiom within the Git source.)

Previous: erik elfström
Message 14 of 14 in “Improving performance of git clean”
  1. 0/3 Improving performance of git cleanErik Elfström, Apr 6, 2015
  2. 1/3 t7300: add tests to document behavior of clean and nested gitErik Elfström, Apr 6, 2015
  3. Eric SunshineApr 6, 2015
  4. erik elfströmApr 7, 2015
  5. Eric SunshineApr 7, 2015
  6. Torsten BögershausenApr 7, 2015
  7. 2/3 p7300: added performance tests for cleanErik Elfström, Apr 6, 2015
  8. Torsten BögershausenApr 6, 2015
  9. Eric SunshineApr 6, 2015
  10. erik elfströmApr 7, 2015
  11. 3/3 clean: improve performance when removing lots of directoriesErik Elfström, Apr 6, 2015
  12. Eric SunshineApr 6, 2015
  13. erik elfströmApr 7, 2015
  14. Eric SunshineApr 8, 2015

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