Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 1/7] staging: qlge: replace ql_* with qlge_* to avoid namespace clashes with other qlogic drivers

From: Benjamin Poirier <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2020 20:02:53 +0900

On 2020-10-17 07:16 +0800, Coiby Xu wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 10:01:36AM +0900, Benjamin Poirier wrote:
> > On 2020-10-14 18:43 +0800, Coiby Xu wrote:
> > > To avoid namespace clashes with other qlogic drivers and also for the
> > > sake of naming consistency, use the "qlge_" prefix as suggested in
> > > drivers/staging/qlge/TODO.
> > > 
> > > Suggested-by: Benjamin Poirier <[email-masked]>
> > > Signed-off-by: Coiby Xu <[email-masked]>
> > > ---
> > >  drivers/staging/qlge/TODO           |    4 -
> > >  drivers/staging/qlge/qlge.h         |  190 ++--
> > >  drivers/staging/qlge/qlge_dbg.c     | 1073 ++++++++++++-----------
> > >  drivers/staging/qlge/qlge_ethtool.c |  231 ++---
> > >  drivers/staging/qlge/qlge_main.c    | 1257 +++++++++++++--------------
> > >  drivers/staging/qlge/qlge_mpi.c     |  352 ++++----
> > >  6 files changed, 1551 insertions(+), 1556 deletions(-)
> > > 
> > > diff --git a/drivers/staging/qlge/TODO b/drivers/staging/qlge/TODO
> > > index f93f7428f5d5..5ac55664c3e2 100644
> > > --- a/drivers/staging/qlge/TODO
> > > +++ b/drivers/staging/qlge/TODO
> > > @@ -28,10 +28,6 @@
> > >  * the driver has a habit of using runtime checks where compile time checks are
> > >    possible (ex. ql_free_rx_buffers(), ql_alloc_rx_buffers())
> > >  * reorder struct members to avoid holes if it doesn't impact performance
> > > -* in terms of namespace, the driver uses either qlge_, ql_ (used by
> > > -  other qlogic drivers, with clashes, ex: ql_sem_spinlock) or nothing (with
> > > -  clashes, ex: struct ob_mac_iocb_req). Rename everything to use the "qlge_"
> > > -  prefix.
> > 
> > You only renamed ql -> qlge. The prefix needs to be added where there is
> > currently none like the second example of that text.
> 
> On second thoughts, these structs like ob_mac_iocb_req are defined in
> local headers and there is no mixed usage. So even when we want to
> build this diver and other qlogic drivers into the kernel instead of
> as separate modules, it won't lead to real problems, is it right?

Using cscope or ctags and searching for ob_mac_iocb_req will yield
ambiguous results. It might also make things more difficult if using a
debugger.

Looking at other drivers (ex. ice, mlx5), they use a prefix for their
private types, just like for their static functions, even though it's
not absolutely necessary. I think it's helpful when reading the code
because it quickly shows that it is something that was defined in the
driver, not in some subsystem.

I didn't think about it earlier but it would have been better to leave
out this renaming to a subsequent patchset, since this change is
unrelated to the debugging features.