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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/bpf/bpf_design_QA.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/bpf/bpf_design_QA.rst | 35 |
1 files changed, 17 insertions, 18 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_design_QA.rst b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_design_QA.rst index 6780a6d81745..10453c627135 100644 --- a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_design_QA.rst +++ b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_design_QA.rst @@ -36,27 +36,27 @@ consideration important quirks of other architectures) and defines calling convention that is compatible with C calling convention of the linux kernel on those architectures. -Q: can multiple return values be supported in the future? +Q: Can multiple return values be supported in the future? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A: NO. BPF allows only register R0 to be used as return value. -Q: can more than 5 function arguments be supported in the future? +Q: Can more than 5 function arguments be supported in the future? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A: NO. BPF calling convention only allows registers R1-R5 to be used as arguments. BPF is not a standalone instruction set. (unlike x64 ISA that allows msft, cdecl and other conventions) -Q: can BPF programs access instruction pointer or return address? +Q: Can BPF programs access instruction pointer or return address? ----------------------------------------------------------------- A: NO. -Q: can BPF programs access stack pointer ? +Q: Can BPF programs access stack pointer ? ------------------------------------------ A: NO. Only frame pointer (register R10) is accessible. From compiler point of view it's necessary to have stack pointer. -For example LLVM defines register R11 as stack pointer in its +For example, LLVM defines register R11 as stack pointer in its BPF backend, but it makes sure that generated code never uses it. Q: Does C-calling convention diminishes possible use cases? @@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ A: YES. BPF design forces addition of major functionality in the form of kernel helper functions and kernel objects like BPF maps with seamless interoperability between them. It lets kernel call into -BPF programs and programs call kernel helpers with zero overhead. -As all of them were native C code. That is particularly the case +BPF programs and programs call kernel helpers with zero overhead, +as all of them were native C code. That is particularly the case for JITed BPF programs that are indistinguishable from native kernel C code. @@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ Q: Does it mean that 'innovative' extensions to BPF code are disallowed? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A: Soft yes. -At least for now until BPF core has support for +At least for now, until BPF core has support for bpf-to-bpf calls, indirect calls, loops, global variables, -jump tables, read only sections and all other normal constructs +jump tables, read-only sections, and all other normal constructs that C code can produce. Q: Can loops be supported in a safe way? @@ -109,16 +109,16 @@ For example why BPF_JNE and other compare and jumps are not cpu-like? A: This was necessary to avoid introducing flags into ISA which are impossible to make generic and efficient across CPU architectures. -Q: why BPF_DIV instruction doesn't map to x64 div? +Q: Why BPF_DIV instruction doesn't map to x64 div? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A: Because if we picked one-to-one relationship to x64 it would have made it more complicated to support on arm64 and other archs. Also it needs div-by-zero runtime check. -Q: why there is no BPF_SDIV for signed divide operation? +Q: Why there is no BPF_SDIV for signed divide operation? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A: Because it would be rarely used. llvm errors in such case and -prints a suggestion to use unsigned divide instead +prints a suggestion to use unsigned divide instead. Q: Why BPF has implicit prologue and epilogue? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @@ -157,12 +157,11 @@ Q: Does BPF have a stable ABI? ------------------------------ A: YES. BPF instructions, arguments to BPF programs, set of helper functions and their arguments, recognized return codes are all part -of ABI. However when tracing programs are using bpf_probe_read() helper -to walk kernel internal datastructures and compile with kernel -internal headers these accesses can and will break with newer -kernels. The union bpf_attr -> kern_version is checked at load time -to prevent accidentally loading kprobe-based bpf programs written -for a different kernel. Networking programs don't do kern_version check. +of ABI. However there is one specific exception to tracing programs +which are using helpers like bpf_probe_read() to walk kernel internal +data structures and compile with kernel internal headers. Both of these +kernel internals are subject to change and can break with newer kernels +such that the program needs to be adapted accordingly. Q: How much stack space a BPF program uses? ------------------------------------------- |