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Comparing libecb/ecb.pod (file contents):
Revision 1.45 by root, Tue May 29 14:35:43 2012 UTC vs.
Revision 1.59 by sf-exg, Mon Jan 26 12:04:56 2015 UTC

60 60
61ecb.h makes sure that the following types are defined (in the expected way): 61ecb.h makes sure that the following types are defined (in the expected way):
62 62
63 int8_t uint8_t int16_t uint16_t 63 int8_t uint8_t int16_t uint16_t
64 int32_t uint32_t int64_t uint64_t 64 int32_t uint32_t int64_t uint64_t
65 intptr_t uintptr_t ptrdiff_t 65 intptr_t uintptr_t
66 66
67The macro C<ECB_PTRSIZE> is defined to the size of a pointer on this 67The macro C<ECB_PTRSIZE> is defined to the size of a pointer on this
68platform (currently C<4> or C<8>) and can be used in preprocessor 68platform (currently C<4> or C<8>) and can be used in preprocessor
69expressions. 69expressions.
70 70
71For C<ptrdiff_t> and C<size_t> use C<stddef.h>.
72
71=head2 LANGUAGE/COMPILER VERSIONS 73=head2 LANGUAGE/COMPILER VERSIONS
72 74
73All the following symbols expand to an expressionb that cna be tested in 75All the following symbols expand to an expression that can be tested in
74preprocessor instructions as well as treated as a boolean (use C<!!> to 76preprocessor instructions as well as treated as a boolean (use C<!!> to
75ensure it's either C<0> or C<1> if you need that). 77ensure it's either C<0> or C<1> if you need that).
76 78
77=over 4 79=over 4
78 80
79=item ECB_C 81=item ECB_C
80 82
81True if the implementation defines the C<__STDC__> macro to a true value, 83True if the implementation defines the C<__STDC__> macro to a true value,
82which is typically true for both C and C++ compilers. 84while not claiming to be C++.
83 85
84=item ECB_C99 86=item ECB_C99
85 87
86True if the implementation claims to be C99 compliant. 88True if the implementation claims to be compliant to C99 (ISO/IEC
899899:1999) or any later version, while not claiming to be C++.
90
91Note that later versions (ECB_C11) remove core features again (for
92example, variable length arrays).
87 93
88=item ECB_C11 94=item ECB_C11
89 95
90True if the implementation claims to be C11 compliant. 96True if the implementation claims to be compliant to C11 (ISO/IEC
979899:2011) or any later version, while not claiming to be C++.
91 98
92=item ECB_CPP 99=item ECB_CPP
93 100
94True if the implementation defines the C<__cplusplus__> macro to a true 101True if the implementation defines the C<__cplusplus__> macro to a true
95value, which is typically true for C++ compilers. 102value, which is typically true for C++ compilers.
96 103
97=item ECB_CPP98
98
99True if the implementation claims to be compliant to ISO/IEC 14882:1998
100(the first C++ ISO standard) or any later vwersion. Typically true for all
101C++ compilers.
102
103=item ECB_CPP11 104=item ECB_CPP11
104 105
105True if the implementation claims to be compliant to ISO/IEC 14882:2011 106True if the implementation claims to be compliant to ISO/IEC 14882:2011
106(C++11) or any later vwersion. 107(C++11) or any later version.
107 108
108=item ECB_GCC_VERSION(major,minor) 109=item ECB_GCC_VERSION (major, minor)
109 110
110Expands to a true value (suitable for testing in by the preprocessor) 111Expands to a true value (suitable for testing in by the preprocessor)
111if the compiler used is GNU C and the version is the givne version, or 112if the compiler used is GNU C and the version is the given version, or
112higher. 113higher.
113 114
114This macro tries to return false on compilers that claim to be GCC 115This macro tries to return false on compilers that claim to be GCC
115compatible but aren't. 116compatible but aren't.
117
118=item ECB_EXTERN_C
119
120Expands to C<extern "C"> in C++, and a simple C<extern> in C.
121
122This can be used to declare a single external C function:
123
124 ECB_EXTERN_C int printf (const char *format, ...);
125
126=item ECB_EXTERN_C_BEG / ECB_EXTERN_C_END
127
128These two macros can be used to wrap multiple C<extern "C"> definitions -
129they expand to nothing in C.
130
131They are most useful in header files:
132
133 ECB_EXTERN_C_BEG
134
135 int mycfun1 (int x);
136 int mycfun2 (int x);
137
138 ECB_EXTERN_C_END
139
140=item ECB_STDFP
141
142If this evaluates to a true value (suitable for testing in by the
143preprocessor), then C<float> and C<double> use IEEE 754 single/binary32
144and double/binary64 representations internally I<and> the endianness of
145both types match the endianness of C<uint32_t> and C<uint64_t>.
146
147This means you can just copy the bits of a C<float> (or C<double>) to an
148C<uint32_t> (or C<uint64_t>) and get the raw IEEE 754 bit representation
149without having to think about format or endianness.
150
151This is true for basically all modern platforms, although F<ecb.h> might
152not be able to deduce this correctly everywhere and might err on the safe
153side.
154
155=item ECB_AMD64, ECB_AMD64_X32
156
157These two macros are defined to C<1> on the x86_64/amd64 ABI and the X32
158ABI, respectively, and undefined elsewhere.
159
160The designers of the new X32 ABI for some inexplicable reason decided to
161make it look exactly like amd64, even though it's completely incompatible
162to that ABI, breaking about every piece of software that assumed that
163C<__x86_64> stands for, well, the x86-64 ABI, making these macros
164necessary.
116 165
117=back 166=back
118 167
119=head2 GCC ATTRIBUTES 168=head2 GCC ATTRIBUTES
120 169
136 185
137=over 4 186=over 4
138 187
139=item ecb_attribute ((attrs...)) 188=item ecb_attribute ((attrs...))
140 189
141A simple wrapper that expands to C<__attribute__((attrs))> on GCC, and to 190A simple wrapper that expands to C<__attribute__((attrs))> on GCC 3.1+ and
142nothing on other compilers, so the effect is that only GCC sees these. 191Clang 2.8+, and to nothing on other compilers, so the effect is that only
192GCC and Clang see these.
143 193
144Example: use the C<deprecated> attribute on a function. 194Example: use the C<deprecated> attribute on a function.
145 195
146 ecb_attribute((__deprecated__)) void 196 ecb_attribute((__deprecated__)) void
147 do_not_use_me_anymore (void); 197 do_not_use_me_anymore (void);
161 #else 211 #else
162 return 0; 212 return 0;
163 #endif 213 #endif
164 } 214 }
165 215
216=item ecb_deprecated
217
218Similar to C<ecb_unused>, but marks a function, variable or type as
219deprecated. This makes some compilers warn when the type is used.
220
166=item ecb_inline 221=item ecb_inline
167 222
168This is not actually an attribute, but you use it like one. It expands 223This is not actually an attribute, but you use it like one. It expands
169either to C<static inline> or to just C<static>, if inline isn't 224either to C<static inline> or to just C<static>, if inline isn't
170supported. It should be used to declare functions that should be inlined, 225supported. It should be used to declare functions that should be inlined,
198 } 253 }
199 254
200In this case, the compiler would probably be smart enough to deduce it on 255In this case, the compiler would probably be smart enough to deduce it on
201its own, so this is mainly useful for declarations. 256its own, so this is mainly useful for declarations.
202 257
258=item ecb_restrict
259
260Expands to the C<restrict> keyword or equivalent on compilers that support
261them, and to nothing on others. Must be specified on a pointer type or
262an array index to indicate that the memory doesn't alias with any other
263restricted pointer in the same scope.
264
265Example: multiply a vector, and allow the compiler to parallelise the
266loop, because it knows it doesn't overwrite input values.
267
268 void
269 multiply (float *ecb_restrict src,
270 float *ecb_restrict dst,
271 int len, float factor)
272 {
273 int i;
274
275 for (i = 0; i < len; ++i)
276 dst [i] = src [i] * factor;
277 }
278
203=item ecb_const 279=item ecb_const
204 280
205Declares that the function only depends on the values of its arguments, 281Declares that the function only depends on the values of its arguments,
206much like a mathematical function. It specifically does not read or write 282much like a mathematical function. It specifically does not read or write
207any memory any arguments might point to, global variables, or call any 283any memory any arguments might point to, global variables, or call any
267functions only called in exceptional or rare cases. 343functions only called in exceptional or rare cases.
268 344
269=item ecb_artificial 345=item ecb_artificial
270 346
271Declares the function as "artificial", in this case meaning that this 347Declares the function as "artificial", in this case meaning that this
272function is not really mean to be a function, but more like an accessor 348function is not really meant to be a function, but more like an accessor
273- many methods in C++ classes are mere accessor functions, and having a 349- many methods in C++ classes are mere accessor functions, and having a
274crash reported in such a method, or single-stepping through them, is not 350crash reported in such a method, or single-stepping through them, is not
275usually so helpful, especially when it's inlined to just a few instructions. 351usually so helpful, especially when it's inlined to just a few instructions.
276 352
277Marking them as artificial will instruct the debugger about just this, 353Marking them as artificial will instruct the debugger about just this,
297 373
298=head2 OPTIMISATION HINTS 374=head2 OPTIMISATION HINTS
299 375
300=over 4 376=over 4
301 377
302=item bool ecb_is_constant(expr) 378=item bool ecb_is_constant (expr)
303 379
304Returns true iff the expression can be deduced to be a compile-time 380Returns true iff the expression can be deduced to be a compile-time
305constant, and false otherwise. 381constant, and false otherwise.
306 382
307For example, when you have a C<rndm16> function that returns a 16 bit 383For example, when you have a C<rndm16> function that returns a 16 bit
573to "optimal" code (e.g. a single C<rol> or a combination of C<shld> on 649to "optimal" code (e.g. a single C<rol> or a combination of C<shld> on
574x86). 650x86).
575 651
576=back 652=back
577 653
654=head2 FLOATING POINT FIDDLING
655
656=over 4
657
658=item uint32_t ecb_float_to_binary32 (float x) [-UECB_NO_LIBM]
659
660=item uint64_t ecb_double_to_binary64 (double x) [-UECB_NO_LIBM]
661
662These functions each take an argument in the native C<float> or C<double>
663type and return the IEEE 754 bit representation of it.
664
665The bit representation is just as IEEE 754 defines it, i.e. the sign bit
666will be the most significant bit, followed by exponent and mantissa.
667
668This function should work even when the native floating point format isn't
669IEEE compliant, of course at a speed and code size penalty, and of course
670also within reasonable limits (it tries to convert NaNs, infinities and
671denormals, but will likely convert negative zero to positive zero).
672
673On all modern platforms (where C<ECB_STDFP> is true), the compiler should
674be able to optimise away this function completely.
675
676These functions can be helpful when serialising floats to the network - you
677can serialise the return value like a normal uint32_t/uint64_t.
678
679Another use for these functions is to manipulate floating point values
680directly.
681
682Silly example: toggle the sign bit of a float.
683
684 /* On gcc-4.7 on amd64, */
685 /* this results in a single add instruction to toggle the bit, and 4 extra */
686 /* instructions to move the float value to an integer register and back. */
687
688 x = ecb_binary32_to_float (ecb_float_to_binary32 (x) ^ 0x80000000U)
689
690=item float ecb_binary16_to_float (uint16_t x) [-UECB_NO_LIBM]
691
692=item float ecb_binary32_to_float (uint32_t x) [-UECB_NO_LIBM]
693
694=item double ecb_binary32_to_double (uint64_t x) [-UECB_NO_LIBM]
695
696The reverse operation of the previous function - takes the bit
697representation of an IEEE binary16, binary32 or binary64 number and
698converts it to the native C<float> or C<double> format.
699
700This function should work even when the native floating point format isn't
701IEEE compliant, of course at a speed and code size penalty, and of course
702also within reasonable limits (it tries to convert normals and denormals,
703and might be lucky for infinities, and with extraordinary luck, also for
704negative zero).
705
706On all modern platforms (where C<ECB_STDFP> is true), the compiler should
707be able to optimise away this function completely.
708
709=back
710
578=head2 ARITHMETIC 711=head2 ARITHMETIC
579 712
580=over 4 713=over 4
581 714
582=item x = ecb_mod (m, n) 715=item x = ecb_mod (m, n)
636 769
637These symbols need to be defined before including F<ecb.h> the first time. 770These symbols need to be defined before including F<ecb.h> the first time.
638 771
639=over 4 772=over 4
640 773
641=item ECB_NO_THRADS 774=item ECB_NO_THREADS
642 775
643If F<ecb.h> is never used from multiple threads, then this symbol can 776If F<ecb.h> is never used from multiple threads, then this symbol can
644be defined, in which case memory fences (and similar constructs) are 777be defined, in which case memory fences (and similar constructs) are
645completely removed, leading to more efficient code and fewer dependencies. 778completely removed, leading to more efficient code and fewer dependencies.
646 779
652multiple threads, but never concurrently (e.g. if the system the program 785multiple threads, but never concurrently (e.g. if the system the program
653runs on has only a single CPU with a single core, no hyperthreading and so 786runs on has only a single CPU with a single core, no hyperthreading and so
654on), then this symbol can be defined, leading to more efficient code and 787on), then this symbol can be defined, leading to more efficient code and
655fewer dependencies. 788fewer dependencies.
656 789
790=item ECB_NO_LIBM
791
792When defined to C<1>, do not export any functions that might introduce
793dependencies on the math library (usually called F<-lm>) - these are
794marked with [-UECB_NO_LIBM].
795
657=back 796=back
658 797
659 798

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