[PATCH v2 2/2] cocci: codify authoring and reviewing practices

From

Glen Choo via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

Date

Apr 27, 2023, 22:22 UTC

Message-ID

<acee642531a582c0abc5d88b23476680e653314f.1682634143.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

In-Reply-To

<pull.1495.v2.git.git.1682634143.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

From: Glen Choo <chooglen@google.com>

Signed-off-by: Glen Choo <chooglen@google.com>
---
 contrib/coccinelle/README | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+)

diff --git a/contrib/coccinelle/README b/contrib/coccinelle/README
index 9b28ba1c57a..055ad0e06a7 100644
--- a/contrib/coccinelle/README
+++ b/contrib/coccinelle/README
@@ -92,3 +92,33 @@ that might be useful to developers.
 
    The absolute times will differ for you, but the relative speedup
    from caching should be on that order.
+
+== Authoring and reviewing coccinelle changes
+
+* When a .cocci is made, both the Git changes and .cocci file should be
+  reviewed. When reviewing such a change, do your best to understand the .cocci
+  changes (e.g. by asking the author to explain the change) and be explicit
+  about your understanding of the changes. This helps us decide whether input
+  from coccinelle experts is needed or not. If you aren't sure of the cocci
+  changes, indicate what changes you actively endorse and leave an Acked-by
+  (instead of Reviewed-by).
+
+* Authors should consider that reviewers may not be coccinelle experts, thus the
+  the .cocci changes may not be self-evident. A plain text description of the
+  changes is strongly encouraged, especially when using more esoteric features
+  of the language.
+
+* .cocci rules should target only the problem it is trying to solve; "collateral
+  damage" is not allowed. Reviewers should look out and flag overly-broad rules.
+
+* Consider the cost-benefit ratio of .cocci changes. In particular, consider the
+  effect on the runtime of "make coccicheck", and how often your .cocci check
+  will catch something valuable. As a rule of thumb, rules that can bail early
+  if a file doesn't have a particular token will have a small impact on runtime,
+  and vice-versa.
+
+* .cocci files used for refactoring should be temporarily kept in-tree to aid
+  the refactoring of out-of-tree code (e.g. in-flight topics). Periodically
+  evaluate the cost-benefit ratio to determine when the file should be removed.
+  For example, consider how many out-of-tree users are left and how much this
+  slows down "make coccicheck".

-- 
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