summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation/bpf
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorDave Thaler <dthaler@microsoft.com>2023-10-17 22:30:20 +0200
committerDaniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>2023-10-19 01:36:12 +0200
commit0e133a13370389d3894891eafe54fec2c44ad735 (patch)
tree54f3b6815025572d7a5bcf028caf6a37bce626c3 /Documentation/bpf
parentselftests/bpf: Add options and frags to xdp_hw_metadata (diff)
downloadlinux-0e133a13370389d3894891eafe54fec2c44ad735.tar.xz
linux-0e133a13370389d3894891eafe54fec2c44ad735.zip
bpf, docs: Define signed modulo as using truncated division
There's different mathematical definitions (truncated, floored, rounded, etc.) and different languages have chosen different definitions [0][1]. E.g., languages/libraries that follow Knuth use a different mathematical definition than C uses. This patch specifies which definition BPF uses, as verified by Eduard [2] and others. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulo#Variants_of_the_definition [1] https://torstencurdt.com/tech/posts/modulo-of-negative-numbers/ [2] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/57e6fefadaf3b2995bb259fa8e711c7220ce5290.camel@gmail.com/ Signed-off-by: Dave Thaler <dthaler@microsoft.com> Signed-off-by: Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net> Acked-by: David Vernet <void@manifault.com> Acked-by: Eduard Zingerman <eddyz87@gmail.com> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20231017203020.1500-1-dthaler1968@googlemail.com
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/bpf')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/bpf/standardization/instruction-set.rst8
1 files changed, 8 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/standardization/instruction-set.rst b/Documentation/bpf/standardization/instruction-set.rst
index c5d53a6e8c79..245b6defc298 100644
--- a/Documentation/bpf/standardization/instruction-set.rst
+++ b/Documentation/bpf/standardization/instruction-set.rst
@@ -283,6 +283,14 @@ For signed operations (``BPF_SDIV`` and ``BPF_SMOD``), for ``BPF_ALU``,
is first :term:`sign extended<Sign Extend>` from 32 to 64 bits, and then
interpreted as a 64-bit signed value.
+Note that there are varying definitions of the signed modulo operation
+when the dividend or divisor are negative, where implementations often
+vary by language such that Python, Ruby, etc. differ from C, Go, Java,
+etc. This specification requires that signed modulo use truncated division
+(where -13 % 3 == -1) as implemented in C, Go, etc.:
+
+ a % n = a - n * trunc(a / n)
+
The ``BPF_MOVSX`` instruction does a move operation with sign extension.
``BPF_ALU | BPF_MOVSX`` :term:`sign extends<Sign Extend>` 8-bit and 16-bit operands into 32
bit operands, and zeroes the remaining upper 32 bits.