Re: [PATCH v3 1/2] rust: sizes: add DeviceSize trait for device address space constants

[Danilo Krummrich]

On Wed Apr 1, 2026 at 10:22 PM CEST, John Hubbard wrote:
> On 4/1/26 2:46 AM, Alice Ryhl wrote:
>> On Tue, Mar 31, 2026 at 03:43:18PM -0700, John Hubbard wrote:
>>> The SZ_* constants are usize, matching the CPU pointer width. But
>>> device address spaces have their own widths (32-bit MMIO windows,
>>> 64-bit GPU framebuffers, etc.), so drivers end up casting these
>>> constants with SZ_1M as u64 or helper functions. This adds
>>> boilerplate with no safety benefit.
>>>
>>> Add a DeviceSize trait with associated SZ_* constants, implemented
>>> for u32, u64, and usize. With the trait in scope, callers write
>>> u64::SZ_1M or u32::SZ_4K to get the constant in their device's
>>> native width. All SZ_* values fit in a u32, so every implementation
>>> is lossless. Each impl has a const assert to catch any future
>>> constant that would overflow.
>>>
>>> A define_sizes! macro generates everything from a single internal
>>> list of names. The macro takes the target types as arguments, so
>>> adding a new target type requires changing only the call site.
>>>
>>> Suggested-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/DGB9G697GSWO.3VBFGU5MKFPMR@xxxxxxxxxx/
>>> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/DGHI8WRKBQS9.38910L6FIIZTE@xxxxxxxxxx/
>>> Signed-off-by: John Hubbard <jhubbard@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> 
>> The name `DeviceSize` seems overly specific to the use-case you had. It
>
> Yes, actually this name has been worrying me from the start. Because
> it is not necessary to tie it, conceptually, to devices at all.
>
>> also makes it sound like something you would implement *for* the device
>> type rather than for the integer type. Why not name it something more
>> generic such as SizeConstants?
>
> Yes, thanks, I do think SizeConstants is more accurate.
>
> I'm inclined to make that change, unless someone else tells me not
> to...let's see.

I think I brought up the name DeviceSize when I proposed this.

The reason is that when I proposed this I was thinking of it as a marker trait
for "complex" types around u32, u64, etc. that we can use in DRM APIs (or any
other device centric API) though generics.

For instance, instead of GpuVm<T>::vm_start() -> u64, it could be
GpuVm<T, V: DeviceSize>::vm_start() -> V.

Another example would be buddy::Block<V: DeviceSize>::offset() -> V instead of
buddy::Block::offset() -> u64.

This way you can interact with the API with the actual device native size.

That said, I'm perfectly fine renaming this to something else; the "device
semantics" comes from the API using the type, not the type itself.