Complement the Kernel Testing Guide documentation page by adding a section about static analysis tools. Signed-off-by: Marcelo Schmitt <marcelo.schmitt1@xxxxxxxxx> --- Hey everyone, I think this patch can be a good addition to the documentation as discussed in the thread for the testing guide documentation page: Link: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-doc/CABVgOS=2iYtqTVdxwH=mcFpcSuLP4cpJ4s6PKP4Gc-SH6jidgQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/ If you think it would be worth it, I can try making something more elaborated. Maybe provide some guidance on when to use each tool. I've been studying how Linux device drivers are tested. Here's a post I wrote talking about some testing tools. Link: https://marcelosc.gitlab.io/how-is-linux-tested/ Best regards, Marcelo Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst | 29 ++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst index 65feb81edb14..b00511109a9d 100644 --- a/Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst @@ -115,3 +115,32 @@ that none of these errors are occurring during the test. Some of these tools integrate with KUnit or kselftest and will automatically fail tests if an issue is detected. +Static Analysis Tools +====================== + +In addition to testing a running kernel, one may also scout for bugs by +analyzing the source code semantics. Three tools are well known for serving this +purpose. + +Sparse can help test the kernel by performing type-checking, lock checking, +value range checking, in addition to reporting various errors and warnings while +examining the code. See the Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst documentation +page for details on how to use it. + +Smatch extends Sparse and provides additional checks for programming logic +mistakes such as missing breaks in switch statements, unused return values on +error checking, forgetting to set an error code in the return of an error path, +etc. Smatch also has tests against more serious issues such as integer +overflows, null pointer dereferences, and memory leaks. See the project page at +http://smatch.sourceforge.net/. + +We also have Coccinelle as an option within static analyzers. Coccinelle is +often used to aid collateral evolution of source code, but it can also help to +avoid certain bugs that have been expressed semantically. The types of tests +available include API tests, tests for correct usage of kernel iterators, checks +for the soundness of free operations, analysis of locking behavior, and further +tests known to help keep consistent kernel usage. See the +Documentation/dev-tools/coccinelle.rst documentation page for details. + +These static analysis tools support running tests on the whole source tree or +over a specific file or directory. -- 2.35.1
