Re: [PATCH net-next 00/33] Remove comma after sentinel entries in match table

[Siddharth Vadapalli]

On 05/09/26 23:33, Jakub Kicinski wrote:
> On Sat, 5 Sep 2026 11:09:54 +0530 Siddharth Vadapalli wrote:
> > > You failed to specify why this "cleanup" makes a difference.
> > > have you ever seen the sentinel not be the last entry?
> >
> > The 'cleanup' in a way 'guarantees'/'enforces' sentinel being the last
> > entry, by catching 'copy-paste' errors at compile-time rather than being
> > a silent bug that shows up at runtime. If a new entry were to be
> > accidentally added after the sentinel entry in the current drivers, it
> > will not cause any compile-time error, but will fail silently at
> > runtime. This series 'cleans up' the drivers by making it a compile-time
> > error going forward (adding a new entry below sentinel will cause a
> > build error with the comma removed after the sentinel entry). I do not
> > doubt the review process on the mailing lists where such errors will
> > certainly be caught, but isn't it better if they are caught at
> > build-time instead, thereby saving reviewers the trouble of pointing out
> > such trivial mistakes?
>
> Is it polite to answer a question with a question? 🧐️

I apologize if it came across as an impolite response. That isn't my 
intent. The 'question' was meant to be more of a "It's better to do so, 
right?" kind of 'question' which is actually a statement, but I posed it as 
a question to make it sound polite. Writing the same as a statement of fact 
appeared to be impolite to me, but I realize now that posing it as a 
question could also be taken as an impolite response.

I should have omitted the closing remark entirely and will keep this in 
mind during future interactions.

> Please be mindful of maintainer's time going forward.
>
> > Trailing commas are an indication of 'scope-for-extension' in the
> > future, which holds true for 'enums' or other structures where newer
> > entires are added towards the end rather than being inserted in the
> > middle. Since that isn't the case here, this series makes it clear by
> > removing the trailing comma.