| LZ4 CODING STYLE |
| ================ |
| |
| When contributing code and patches to the `LZ4` project, the following rules are expected to be followed for a successful merge. |
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| Library |
| ------- |
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| The library's source code in `lib/` directory has a BSD 2-clause license. |
| It's designed to be integrated into 3rd party applications. |
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| It adheres relatively strictly to vanilla `C90`, with the following exceptions: |
| - `long long` type is required, in order to support 64-bit values |
| - Variadic Macros are used for debug mode (but not required in release mode) |
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| Beyond that, all other rules and limitations of C90 must be respected, including `/* ... */` comment style only, and variable declaration at top of block only. The automated CI test suite will check for these rules. |
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| The code is allowed to use more modern variants (C99 / C11 / C23) when useful |
| as long as it provides a clean C90 backup for older compilers. |
| For example, C99+ compilers will employ the `restrict` keyword, while `C90` ones will ignore it, thanks to conditional macros. |
| This ensures maximum portability across a wide range of systems. |
| |
| Moreover, in the interest of safety, the code has to respect a fairly strigent list of additional restrictions, provided through warning flags, the list of which is maintained within `Makefile`. |
| Among the less common ones, we want the source to be compatible with `-Wc++-compat`, which ensures that the code can be compiled "as is", with no modification, as C++ code. It makes it possible to copy-paste the code into other C++ source files, or the source files are just dropped into a C++ environment which then compiles them as C++ source files. |
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| Command Line Interface |
| ---------------------- |
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| The CLI executable's source code in `programs/` directory has a GPLv2+ license. |
| While it's designed to be portable and freely distributable, it's not meant to be integrated into 3rd party applications. |
| The license difference is meant to reflect that choice. |
| |
| Similar to the library, the CLI adheres relatively strictly to vanilla `C90`, and features the same exceptions: |
| - `long long` requirement for 64-bit values |
| - Variadic Macros for console messages (now used all the time, not just debug mode) |
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| The code can also use system-specific libraries and symbols (such as `posix` ones) |
| as long as it provides a backup for plain `C90` platforms. |
| It's even allowed to lose capabilities, as long as the CLI can be cleanly compiled on `C90`. |
| For example, systems without `<pthread>` support nor Completion Ports will just not feature multi-threading support, and run single threaded. |
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| In the interest of build familiarity, the CLI source code also respects the same set of advanced warning flags as the library. |
| That being said, this last part is debatable and could deviate in the future. |
| For example, there are less reasons to support `-Wc++-compat` on the CLI side, since it's not meant to be integrated into 3rd party applications. |
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| Others |
| ------ |
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| The repository includes other directories with their own set of compilable projects, such as `tests/`, `examples/` and `contrib/`. |
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| These repositories do not have to respect the same set of restrictions, and can employ a larger array of different languages. |
| For example, some tests employ `sh`, and others employ `python`. |
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| These directories may nonetheless include several targets employing the same coding convention as the `lz4` library. This is in a no way a rule, more like a side effect of build familiarity. |