Re: [PATCH v3 26/64] objtool: Add section/symbol type helpers

[Peter Zijlstra]

On Fri, Jun 27, 2025 at 09:36:08AM -0700, Josh Poimboeuf wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 27, 2025 at 12:29:30PM +0200, Peter Zijlstra wrote:
> > Naming seems inconsistent, there are:
> >
> >   sym_has_sec(), sec_changed() and sec_size()
> >
> > which have the object first, but then most new ones are:
> > 
> >   is_foo_sym() and is_foo_sec()
> > 
> > which have the object last.
> 
> For the "is_()" variants, I read them as:
> 
>   "is a(n) <adjective> <noun>"
> 
> e.g.:
> 
>   is_undef_sym(): "is an UNDEF symbol"
>   is_file_sym():  "is a FILE symbol"
>   is_string_sec() "is a STRING section"
> 
> Nerding out on English for a second, many of those adjectives can be
> read as noun adjuncts, e.g. "chicken soup", where a noun functions as an
> adjective.
> 
> If we changed those to:
> 
>   "is <noun> <adjective>?"
> 
> or
> 
>   "is <noun> a <noun>?"
> 
> then it doesn't always read correctly:
> 
>   is_sym_file():   "is symbol a file?"
>   is_sec_string(): "is section a string?"

English aside; things like sym_*() create a clear namespace, and
sym_is_file() can be easily read as sym::is_file().