[llvm-dev] Specify default value for FunctionType::get's isVarArg parameter

[Julian Lettner via llvm-dev]

Should we specify a default value (false) for the isVarArg parameter of the FunctionType::get functions to improve ergonomics and reduce visual noise?

Typical usage (good citizens annotate their boolean args):
… = FunctionType::get(IRB.getVoidTy(), {IntptrTy, IntptrTy}, /*isVarArg=*/ false);

For all usages that I could easily grep, i.e., single-line usages, true was only used 21 times. So at least mechanically, false seems to be a good default.

There are different levels for the proposed change. I also state all the cons that I could think of.

Level 0: Add default in declaration/header
Cons: No, we want to require users to specify isVarArg, i.e., force them to think about the varargs special case.
Enables simplified use in the future and gradual cleanup.

Level 1: Adapt call sites
Cons: This cleanup is not important enough to warrant the churn.

Level 2: Get rid of 2-parameter overload by specifying an additional default in the 3-parameter variant: Params = None
This requires at least a cleanup of the 2-parameter overload usages.
Cons: In addition, this would force ~16 (2-args-true and 2-args-variable) uses to specify None for the params argument (to “gain access” to the isVarArg, i.e., third positional argument).
IMO, this is not a cons. No-parameter var-args functions (no format string!) seem special enough that being explicit about the absence of normal parameters feels okay to me.

Level 3/orthogonal bonus level: Special getter for void *(void) function type
77 out of 102 usages of the 2-parameter variant are used to retrieve a void func(void) type!
Maybe this warrants a special getter, similar to Type::getInt32Ty, for 1) convenience and 2) avoiding the lookup (eagerly initialize it).
We can also have a separate discussion for this since it is orthogonal.


What do you think? Are there other cons I have overlooked?
Which level would you like to see?


Approximate counts (the regex I used are probably not 100% accurate):

+--------+-------+------+----------+
|        | false | true | variable |
+--------+-------+------+----------+
| 3 args |   338 |   14 |       15 |
| 2 args |    86 |    7 |        9 |
+--------+-------+------+----------+

APIs we are talking about:

FunctionType *FunctionType::get(Type *ReturnType, ArrayRef<Type*> Params, bool isVarArg) {
  // Lookup; create if not exists
}

FunctionType *FunctionType::get(Type *Result, bool isVarArg) {
  return get(Result, None, isVarArg);
}


Regex:

➤ rg "FunctionType::get\(" | wc -l
     612  # all, including multiline, which are not included below
➤ rg "FunctionType::get\([^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]*\)" | wc -l
     367  # 3 params
➤ rg "FunctionType::get\([^,]+,[^,]*\)" | wc -l
     102  # 2 params

➤ rg "FunctionType::get\([^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]*false[^,]*\)" | wc -l
     338  # 3 params, false
➤ rg "FunctionType::get\([^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]*true[^,]*\)" | wc -l
      14  # 3 params, true

➤ rg "FunctionType::get\([^,]+,[^,]*false[^,]*\)" | wc -l
      86  # 2 params, false
➤ rg "FunctionType::get\([^,]+,[^,]*true[^,]*\)" | wc -l
       7  # 2 params, true

➤ rg "FunctionType::get\([^,]*[Vv]oid[^,]*,[^,]*false[^,]*\)" | wc -l
      77  # void (void) function type

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