xref: /freebsd/share/man/man9/intro.9 (revision 05c7a37afb48ddd5ee1bd921a5d46fe59cc70b15)
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32.\"	@(#)intro.8	8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
33.\"
34.Dd December 13, 1995
35.Dt INTRO 9
36.Os FreeBSD 2.2
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm intro
39.Nd "introduction to system kernel interfaces"
40.Sh DESCRIPTION
41This section contains information about the interfaces and
42subroutines in the kernel.
43
44.Sh PROTOTYPES ANSI-C AND ALL THAT
45Yes please.
46
47We would like all code to be fully prototyped.
48
49If your code compiles cleanly with
50.Nm cc
51.Ar -Wall
52we would feel happy about it.
53It is important to understand that this isn't a question of just shutting up
54.Nm cc ,
55it is a question about avoiding the things it complains about.
56To put it bluntly, don't hide the problem by casting and other
57obfuscating practices, solve the problem.
58
59.Sh INDENTATION AND STYLE
60Belive it or not, there actually exists a guide for indentation and style.
61It isn't generally applied though.
62
63We would appreciate if people would pay attention to it, and at least not
64violate it blatantly.
65
66We don't mind it too badly if you have your own style, but please make
67sure we can read it too.
68
69Please take time to read
70.Xr style 9
71for more information.
72
73.Sh NAMING THINGS
74Some general rules exist:
75.Bl -enum
76.It
77If a function is meant as a debugging aid in DDB, it should be enclosed
78in
79.Bd -literal -offset indent
80#ifdef DDB
81
82#endif /* DDB */
83.Ed
84
85And the name of the procedure should start with the prefix
86.Li DDB_
87to clearly identify the procedure as a debugger routine.
88.El
89
90
91.Sh SCOPE OF SYMBOLS
92It is important to carefully consider the scope of symbols in the kernel.
93The default is to make everything static, unless some reason requires
94the opposite.
95
96There are several reasons for this policy,
97the main one is that the kernel is one monolithic name-space,
98and pollution is not a good idea here either.
99
100For device drivers and other modules that don't add new internal interfaces
101to the kernel, the entire source should be in one file it possible.
102That way all symbols can be made static.
103
104If for some reason a module is split over multiple source files, then try
105to split the module along some major fault-line and consider using the
106number of global symbols as your guide.
107The fewer the better.
108
109.Sh HISTORY
110The
111.Nm intro
112section manual page appeared in FreeBSD 2.2
113