X-Git-Url: https://git.ralfj.de/web.git/blobdiff_plain/870cbaeae3b06465ceabd15a89ab74edf9f7acc0..a2412af828fa3d5c8602bb47781f04913814e109:/personal/_posts/2019-07-14-uninit.md?ds=sidebyside diff --git a/personal/_posts/2019-07-14-uninit.md b/personal/_posts/2019-07-14-uninit.md index 0b16076..7af373f 100644 --- a/personal/_posts/2019-07-14-uninit.md +++ b/personal/_posts/2019-07-14-uninit.md @@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ Here is an example to demonstrate why "random bit pattern" cannot describe unini use std::mem; fn always_returns_true(x: u8) -> bool { - x < 150 || x > 120 + x < 120 || x == 120 || x > 120 } fn main() { @@ -45,16 +45,16 @@ fn main() { } {% endhighlight %} `always_returns_true` is a function that, clearly, will return `true` for any possible 8-bit unsigned integer. -After all, *every* possible value for `x` will be less than 150 or bigger than 120. -A quick loop [confirms this](https://play.rust-lang.org/?version=stable&mode=release&edition=2018&gist=58168009e601a2f01b08981f907a473c). -However, if you [run the example](https://play.rust-lang.org/?version=stable&mode=release&edition=2018&gist=da278adb50142d14909df74ea1e43069), you can see the assertion fail.[^godbolt] +After all, *every* possible value for `x` will be either less than 120, equal to 120, or bigger than 120. +A quick loop [confirms this](https://play.rust-lang.org/?version=stable&mode=release&edition=2018&gist=65b690fa3c1691e11d4d45955358cdbe). +However, if you [run the example](https://play.rust-lang.org/?version=stable&mode=release&edition=2018&gist=812fe3c8655bfedcea37bb18bb70a945), you can see the assertion fail.[^godbolt] -[^godbolt]: In case this changes with future Rust versions, [here is the same example on godbolt](https://godbolt.org/z/JX4B4N); the `xor eax, eax` indicates that the function returns 0, aka `false`. And [here is a version for C++](https://godbolt.org/z/PvZGQB); imagine calling `make_true(true)` which *should* always return `true` but as the assembly shows will return `false`. +[^godbolt]: In case this changes with future Rust versions, [here is the same example on godbolt](https://godbolt.org/z/9G67hP); the `xor eax, eax` indicates that the function returns 0, aka `false`. And [here is a version for C++](https://godbolt.org/z/TWrvcq). ## What *is* uninitialized memory? How is this possible? -The answer is that, in the "abstract machine" that is used to specify the behavior of our program, every byte in memory cannot just have a value in `0..256` (this is Rust/Ruby syntax for a left-inclusive right-exclusive range), it can also be "uninitialized". +The answer is that, in the "abstract machine" that is used to specify the behavior of our program, every byte in memory cannot just have a value in `0..256` (this is Rust syntax for a left-inclusive right-exclusive range), it can also be "uninitialized". Memory *remembers* if you initialized it. The `x` that is passed to `always_return_true` is *not* the 8-bit representation of some number, it is an uninitialized byte. Performing operations such as comparison on uninitialized bytes is [undefined behavior]({% post_url 2017-07-14-undefined-behavior %}). @@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ The Rust abstract machine *does* make a distinction between "relaxed" and "relea After all, x86 does not have "uninitialized bytes" either, and still our example program above went wrong. Of course, to explain *why* the abstract machine is defined the way it is, we have to look at optimizations and hardware-level concerns. -But without an abstract machine, it is very hard to ensure that all the optimizations a compiler performs are consistent---in fact, both [LLVM](https://bugs.llvm.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35229) and [GCC](https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=65752) suffer from miscompilations caused by combining optimizations that all seem fine in isolation, but together cause incorrect code generation. +But without an abstract machine, it is very hard to ensure that all the optimizations a compiler performs are consistent---in fact, both [LLVM](https://bugs.llvm.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35229) and [GCC](https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=65752) suffer from miscompilations caused by combining optimizations that all seem [fine in isolation, but together cause incorrect code generation]({% post_url 2020-12-14-provenance %}). The abstract machine is needed as an ultimate arbiter that determines which optimizations can be safely combined with each other. I also think that when writing unsafe code, it is much easier to keep in your head a fixed abstract machine as opposed to a set of optimizations that might change any time, and might or might not be applied in any order.