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Kuan-Wei Chiu 4e0a15f8b4 lib/sort: clarify comparison function requirements in sort_r()
Patch series "lib: clarify comparison function requirements", v2.

Add a detailed explanation in the sort_r/list_sort kernel doc comment
specifying that the comparison function must satisfy antisymmetry and
transitivity.  These properties are essential for the sorting algorithm to
produce correct results.

Issues have arisen in the past [1][2][3][4] where comparison functions
violated the transitivity property, causing sorting algorithms to fail to
correctly order elements.  While these requirements may seem
straightforward, they are commonly misunderstood or overlooked, leading to
bugs.  Highlighting these properties in the documentation will help
prevent such mistakes in the future.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20240701205639.117194-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [1]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20241203202228.1274403-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [2]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20241209134226.1939163-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [3]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20241209145728.1975311-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [4]


This patch (of 2):

Add a detailed explanation in the sort_r() kernel doc comment specifying
that the comparison function must satisfy antisymmetry and transitivity. 
These properties are essential for the sorting algorithm to produce
correct results.

Issues have arisen in the past [1][2][3][4] where comparison functions
violated the transitivity property, causing sorting algorithms to fail to
correctly order elements.  While these requirements may seem
straightforward, they are commonly misunderstood or overlooked, leading to
bugs.  Highlighting these properties in the documentation will help
prevent such mistakes in the future.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20250106170104.3137845-1-visitorckw@gmail.com
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20240701205639.117194-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [1]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20241203202228.1274403-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [2]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20241209134226.1939163-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [3]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20241209145728.1975311-1-visitorckw@gmail.com [4]
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20250106170104.3137845-2-visitorckw@gmail.com
Signed-off-by: Kuan-Wei Chiu <visitorckw@gmail.com>
Cc: Ching-Chun (Jim) Huang <jserv@ccns.ncku.edu.tw>
Cc: <chuang@cs.nycu.edu.tw>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
2025-01-24 22:47:23 -08:00
arch arch: remove get_task_comm() and print task comm directly 2025-01-12 20:21:15 -08:00
block block: avoid to reuse hctx not removed from cpuhp callback list 2024-12-18 07:25:37 -07:00
certs sign-file,extract-cert: use pkcs11 provider for OPENSSL MAJOR >= 3 2024-09-20 19:52:48 +03:00
crypto crypto: rsassa-pkcs1 - Copy source data for SG list 2024-12-10 13:34:05 +08:00
Documentation Documentation: update the Squashfs filesystem documentation 2025-01-24 22:47:21 -08:00
drivers drivers: remove get_task_comm() and print task comm directly 2025-01-12 20:21:16 -08:00
fs squashfs: convert squashfs_fill_page() to take a folio 2025-01-24 22:47:22 -08:00
include delayacct: add delay min to record delay peak 2025-01-12 20:21:16 -08:00
init init: fix removal warning for deprecated initrd loading 2025-01-12 20:21:14 -08:00
io_uring io_uring/kbuf: use pre-committed buffer address for non-pollable file 2025-01-03 09:38:37 -07:00
ipc - The series "resource: A couple of cleanups" from Andy Shevchenko 2024-11-25 16:09:48 -08:00
kernel kthread: correct comments before kthread_queue_work() 2025-01-24 22:47:22 -08:00
lib lib/sort: clarify comparison function requirements in sort_r() 2025-01-24 22:47:23 -08:00
LICENSES LICENSES: add 0BSD license text 2024-09-01 20:43:24 -07:00
mm mm: kmemleak: convert timeouts to secs_to_jiffies() 2025-01-12 20:21:02 -08:00
net net: remove get_task_comm() and print task comm directly 2025-01-12 20:21:16 -08:00
rust workqueue: Fixes for v6.13-rc5 2025-01-03 15:03:56 -08:00
samples livepatch: convert timeouts to secs_to_jiffies() 2025-01-12 20:21:05 -08:00
scripts kernel-wide: add explicity||explicitly to spelling.txt 2025-01-12 20:21:06 -08:00
security security: remove get_task_comm() and print task comm directly 2025-01-12 20:21:16 -08:00
sound ALSA: line6: convert timeouts to secs_to_jiffies() 2025-01-12 20:21:05 -08:00
tools delayacct: add delay min to record delay peak 2025-01-12 20:21:16 -08:00
usr kbuild: Drop support for include/asm-<arch> in headers_check.pl 2024-12-21 11:43:17 +09:00
virt VFIO updates for v6.13 2024-11-27 12:57:03 -08:00
.clang-format clang-format: Update with v6.11-rc1's for_each macro list 2024-08-02 13:20:31 +02:00
.clippy.toml rust: enable Clippy's check-private-items 2024-10-07 21:39:57 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig .editorconfig: remove trim_trailing_whitespace option 2024-06-13 16:47:52 +02:00
.get_maintainer.ignore MAINTAINERS: Retire Ralf Baechle 2024-11-12 15:48:59 +01:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore Kbuild updates for v6.13 2024-11-30 13:41:50 -08:00
.mailmap mailmap: modify the entry for Mathieu Othacehe 2024-12-30 17:59:08 -08:00
.rustfmt.toml
COPYING
CREDITS cgroup: Changes for v6.13 2024-11-20 09:54:49 -08:00
Kbuild Kbuild updates for v6.1 2022-10-10 12:00:45 -07:00
Kconfig
MAINTAINERS MAINTAINERS: fix list entries with display names 2025-01-24 22:47:22 -08:00
Makefile Linux 6.13-rc6 2025-01-05 14:13:40 -08:00
README README: Fix spelling 2024-03-18 03:36:32 -06:00

Linux kernel

There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF. Please read Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst first.

In order to build the documentation, use make htmldocs or make pdfdocs. The formatted documentation can also be read online at:

https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory, several of them using the reStructuredText markup notation.

Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.