Re: [PATCH net] docs: netdev: Document guidance on inline functions
From: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Date: 2025-02-03 15:01:03
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Simon Horman [off-list ref] writes:
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
Document preference for non inline functions in .c files. This has been the preference for as long as I can recall and I was recently surprised to discover that it is undocumented. Reported-by: Alexandre Ferrieux <redacted> Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/9662e6fe-cc91-4258-aba1-ab5b016a041a@orange.com/ (local) Signed-off-by: Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org> --- Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst | 11 +++++++++++ 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)diff --git a/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst b/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst index e497729525d5..1fbb8178b8cd 100644 --- a/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst +++ b/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst@@ -408,6 +408,17 @@ at a greater cost than the value of such clean-ups. Conversely, spelling and grammar fixes are not discouraged. +Inline functions +---------------- + +The use of static inline functions in .c file is strongly discouraged +unless there is a demonstrable reason for them, usually performance +related. Rather, it is preferred to omit the inline keyword and allow the +compiler to inline them as it sees fit. + +This is a stricter requirement than that of the general Linux Kernel +:ref:`Coding Style<codingstyle>`
I have no objection to this change, but I do wonder if it does indeed belong in the central coding-style document. I don't think anybody encourages use of "inline" these days...? jon