WG14 paper for removing restrict from nptr in strtol(3)

[Alejandro Colomar]

Hi Dave,

On Mon, Jul 08, 2024 at 06:48:51PM GMT, David Malcolm wrote:
> > restrict, as of the formal definition of ISO C is useless crap.  The
> > more I read it, the more I agree.
> 
> Please note that "useless crap" was your wording, not mine.

Yup.  :)

> 
> > 
> > restrict, as of what -Wrestrict warns about, seems a reasonable
> > thing.
> > 
> > How about a [[gnu::restrict()]] attribute, similar to
> > [[gnu::access()]],
> > which is simpler than the qualifier?  Since restrict is only
> > meaningful
> > in function boundaries, it would make sense to have a function
> > attribute.  We don't want a qualifier that must follow discarding
> > rules.
> 
> If it doesn't have the same meaning as "restrict" then perhaps call the
> proposed attribute something other than "restrict"?

Yup, I was thinking that maybe noalias is a better name.

> 
> That said, I don't have strong opinions on any of this, except to note
> that I have more than enough *other* work on improvements to GCC's
> static analyzer and usability to keep me busy, so getting sucked into
> discussion/implementation on 'restrict' is something I want to avoid,
> and -Wanalyzer-overlapping-buffers is getting the job done for me at
> the moment.
> 
> [...snip...]
> 
> Hope this is constructive; sorry again if I missed anything due to only
> skimming the thread

It is.  I don't want you to work on this if you don't have time or
interest.  Just having the idea floating aroud, and if somebody finds
time to have a look at it in the next decade, maybe try it.  :-)

Does that make sense?

Cheers,
Alex

> 
> Dave
> 
> 

-- 
<https://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
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