Re: [Valgrind-developers] const arguments to matchIRExpr()

[Ivo R. <iv...@iv...>]

2016-12-21 17:08 GMT+01:00 John Reiser <jr...@bi...>:

> On 12/21/2016 12:57 AM, Ivo Raisr wrote:
>
> > Are there any objections to the changes for this bug:
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=373938
> >
> > The gist of my changes is really just:
> > - Bool matchIRExpr ( MatchInfo* mi, IRExpr* p, IRExpr* e );
> > + Bool matchIRExpr ( MatchInfo* mi, const IRExpr* p, const IRExpr* e );
>
> I applaud the use of 'const' as often as possible.
> It increases understanding and reduces debugging and maintenance costs
> because it reduces the places where values can change.
> It also tells the compiler where aggressive optimization is possible.
>
> I believe that 'const' should appear as far to the right as possible:
>
>         IRExpr const *p
>
> This makes declarations easier to read.  Declarations are read
> from the inside to the outside; this means right-to-left
> (except for function names and order of parameters.)
> In the example, what is 'p'?
>
>         spoken or read: p is a pointer to a const IRExpr
>         transliterated: p      *            const IRExpr
>         proper syntax:  IRExpr const *p
>
> This placement of 'const' is especially natural in C++,
> where the spoken "by const-ref" becomes the syntax "const&".
>

Thank you for detailed explanation of your arguments.
I think consistency with the rest of VEX code is also important.
I did a little research and nowhere in VEX we can see 'T const *';
it is always 'const T *'.

I.