clang-format is a tool to format C/C++/... code according to a set of
rules and heuristics. Like most tools, it is not perfect nor covers
every single case, but it is good enough to be helpful.
In particular, it is useful for quickly re-formatting blocks of code
automatically, for reviewing full files in order to spot coding style
mistakes, typos and possible improvements. It is also handy for sorting
``#includes``, for aligning variables and macros, for reflowing text and
other similar tasks. It also serves as a teaching tool/guide for
newcomers.
The tool itself has been already included in the repositories of popular
Linux distributions for a long time. The rules in this file are
intended for clang-format >= 4, which is easily available in most
distributions.
This commit adds the configuration file that contains the rules that the
tool uses to know how to format the code according to the kernel coding
style. This gives us several advantages:
* clang-format works out of the box with reasonable defaults;
avoiding that everyone has to re-do the configuration.
* Everyone agrees (eventually) on what is the most useful default
configuration for most of the kernel.
* If it becomes commonplace among kernel developers, clang-format
may feel compelled to support us better. They already recognize
the Linux kernel and its style in their documentation and in one
of the style sub-options.
Some of clang-format's features relevant for the kernel are:
* Uses clang's tooling support behind the scenes to parse and rewrite
the code. It is not based on ad-hoc regexps.
* Supports reasonably well the Linux kernel coding style.
* Fast enough to be used at the press of a key.
* There are already integrations (either built-in or third-party)
for many common editors used by kernel developers (e.g. vim,
emacs, Sublime, Atom...) that allow you to format an entire file
or, more usefully, just your selection.
* Able to parse unified diffs -- you can, for instance, reformat
only the lines changed by a git commit.
* Able to reflow text comments as well.
* Widely supported and used by hundreds of developers in highly
complex projects and organizations (e.g. the LLVM project itself,
Chromium, WebKit, Google, Mozilla...). Therefore, it will be
supported for a long time.
See more information about the tool at:
https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormat.html
https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormatStyleOptions.html
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20180318171632.qfkemw3mwbcukth6@gmail.com
Signed-off-by: Miguel Ojeda <miguel.ojeda.sandonis@gmail.com>
Cc: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>
Cc: Andy Whitcroft <apw@canonical.com>
Cc: Joe Perches <joe@perches.com>
Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>