[clang-tools-extra] [clang-tidy] Add bugprone-chained-comparison check (PR #76365)

Piotr Zegar via cfe-commits cfe-commits at lists.llvm.org
Mon Dec 25 08:52:20 PST 2023


https://github.com/PiotrZSL created https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/76365

Check that flags chained comparison expressions,
such as a < b < c or a == b == c, which may have
unintended behavior due to implicit operator
associativity.

Moved from Phabricator  (D144429).


>From 5ece73a5b14e86172b900f4ae9d63d8fa1590d4a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Piotr Zegar <piotr.zegar at nokia.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2023 16:18:45 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] [clang-tidy] Add bugprone-chained-comparison check

Check that flags chained comparison expressions,
such as a < b < c or a == b == c, which may have
unintended behavior due to implicit operator
associativity.
---
 .../bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp           |   3 +
 .../clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt        |   1 +
 .../bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.cpp       | 161 ++++++++++++++++++
 .../bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.h         |  37 ++++
 clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst       |   6 +
 .../checks/bugprone/chained-comparison.rst    |  73 ++++++++
 .../docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst           |   1 +
 .../checkers/bugprone/chained-comparison.cpp  |  91 ++++++++++
 8 files changed, 373 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.cpp
 create mode 100644 clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.h
 create mode 100644 clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/chained-comparison.rst
 create mode 100644 clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/chained-comparison.cpp

diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp
index 435cb1e3fbcff3..a8a23b045f80bb 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "BoolPointerImplicitConversionCheck.h"
 #include "BranchCloneCheck.h"
 #include "CastingThroughVoidCheck.h"
+#include "ChainedComparisonCheck.h"
 #include "ComparePointerToMemberVirtualFunctionCheck.h"
 #include "CopyConstructorInitCheck.h"
 #include "DanglingHandleCheck.h"
@@ -108,6 +109,8 @@ class BugproneModule : public ClangTidyModule {
     CheckFactories.registerCheck<BranchCloneCheck>("bugprone-branch-clone");
     CheckFactories.registerCheck<CastingThroughVoidCheck>(
         "bugprone-casting-through-void");
+    CheckFactories.registerCheck<ChainedComparisonCheck>(
+        "bugprone-chained-comparison");
     CheckFactories.registerCheck<ComparePointerToMemberVirtualFunctionCheck>(
         "bugprone-compare-pointer-to-member-virtual-function");
     CheckFactories.registerCheck<CopyConstructorInitCheck>(
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt
index 70e7fbc7ec0c14..1cd6fb207d7625 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ add_clang_library(clangTidyBugproneModule
   BranchCloneCheck.cpp
   BugproneTidyModule.cpp
   CastingThroughVoidCheck.cpp
+  ChainedComparisonCheck.cpp
   ComparePointerToMemberVirtualFunctionCheck.cpp
   CopyConstructorInitCheck.cpp
   DanglingHandleCheck.cpp
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..07f65d062e51cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+//===--- ChainedComparisonCheck.cpp - clang-tidy --------------------------===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include "ChainedComparisonCheck.h"
+#include "clang/AST/ASTContext.h"
+#include "clang/ASTMatchers/ASTMatchFinder.h"
+#include "llvm/ADT/SmallString.h"
+#include "llvm/ADT/SmallVector.h"
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <array>
+
+using namespace clang::ast_matchers;
+
+namespace clang::tidy::bugprone {
+
+namespace {
+
+bool isExprAComparisonOperator(const Expr *E) {
+  if (const auto *Op = dyn_cast_or_null<BinaryOperator>(E->IgnoreImplicit()))
+    return Op->isComparisonOp();
+  if (const auto *Op =
+          dyn_cast_or_null<CXXOperatorCallExpr>(E->IgnoreImplicit()))
+    return Op->isComparisonOp();
+  return false;
+}
+
+AST_MATCHER(BinaryOperator,
+            hasBinaryOperatorAChildComparisonOperatorWithoutParen) {
+  return isExprAComparisonOperator(Node.getLHS()) ||
+         isExprAComparisonOperator(Node.getRHS());
+}
+
+AST_MATCHER(CXXOperatorCallExpr,
+            hasCppOperatorAChildComparisonOperatorWithoutParen) {
+  return std::any_of(Node.arg_begin(), Node.arg_end(),
+                     isExprAComparisonOperator);
+}
+
+constexpr std::array<llvm::StringRef, 26U> Letters = {
+    "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", "k", "l", "m",
+    "n", "o", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t", "u", "v", "w", "x", "y", "z"};
+
+struct ChainedComparisonData {
+  llvm::SmallString<256U> Name;
+  llvm::SmallVector<const Expr *, 26U> Operands;
+  bool Full = false;
+
+  void Add(const Expr *Operand) {
+    if (Full)
+      return;
+    if (!Name.empty())
+      Name += ' ';
+    Name += Letters[Operands.size()];
+    Operands.push_back(Operand);
+
+    if (Operands.size() == Letters.size()) {
+      Name += " ...";
+      Full = true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  void Add(llvm::StringRef Opcode) {
+    if (Full)
+      return;
+
+    Name += ' ';
+    Name += Opcode.str();
+  }
+};
+
+} // namespace
+
+static void extractData(const Expr *Op, ChainedComparisonData &Output);
+
+inline bool extractData(const BinaryOperator *Op,
+                        ChainedComparisonData &Output) {
+  if (!Op)
+    return false;
+
+  if (isExprAComparisonOperator(Op->getLHS()))
+    extractData(Op->getLHS()->IgnoreImplicit(), Output);
+  else
+    Output.Add(Op->getLHS()->IgnoreUnlessSpelledInSource());
+
+  Output.Add(Op->getOpcodeStr());
+
+  if (isExprAComparisonOperator(Op->getRHS()))
+    extractData(Op->getRHS()->IgnoreImplicit(), Output);
+  else
+    Output.Add(Op->getRHS()->IgnoreUnlessSpelledInSource());
+  return true;
+}
+
+inline bool extractData(const CXXOperatorCallExpr *Op,
+                        ChainedComparisonData &Output) {
+  if (!Op || Op->getNumArgs() != 2U)
+    return false;
+
+  const Expr *FirstArg = Op->getArg(0U)->IgnoreImplicit();
+  if (isExprAComparisonOperator(FirstArg))
+    extractData(FirstArg, Output);
+  else
+    Output.Add(FirstArg->IgnoreUnlessSpelledInSource());
+
+  Output.Add(getOperatorSpelling(Op->getOperator()));
+
+  const Expr *SecondArg = Op->getArg(1U)->IgnoreImplicit();
+  if (isExprAComparisonOperator(SecondArg))
+    extractData(SecondArg, Output);
+  else
+    Output.Add(SecondArg->IgnoreUnlessSpelledInSource());
+  return true;
+}
+
+static void extractData(const Expr *OpExpr, ChainedComparisonData &Output) {
+  OpExpr->dump();
+  extractData(dyn_cast_or_null<BinaryOperator>(OpExpr), Output) ||
+      extractData(dyn_cast_or_null<CXXOperatorCallExpr>(OpExpr), Output);
+}
+
+void ChainedComparisonCheck::registerMatchers(MatchFinder *Finder) {
+  const auto OperatorMatcher = expr(anyOf(
+      binaryOperator(isComparisonOperator(),
+                     hasBinaryOperatorAChildComparisonOperatorWithoutParen()),
+      cxxOperatorCallExpr(
+          isComparisonOperator(),
+          hasCppOperatorAChildComparisonOperatorWithoutParen())));
+
+  Finder->addMatcher(
+      expr(OperatorMatcher, unless(hasParent(OperatorMatcher))).bind("op"),
+      this);
+}
+
+void ChainedComparisonCheck::check(const MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) {
+  const auto *MatchedOperator = Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<Expr>("op");
+
+  ChainedComparisonData Data;
+  extractData(MatchedOperator, Data);
+
+  if (Data.Operands.empty())
+    return;
+
+  diag(MatchedOperator->getBeginLoc(),
+       "chained comparison '%0' may generate unintended results, use "
+       "parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to "
+       "separate comparison expressions")
+      << llvm::StringRef(Data.Name).trim();
+
+  for (std::size_t Index = 0U; Index < Data.Operands.size(); ++Index) {
+    diag(Data.Operands[Index]->getBeginLoc(), "operand '%0' is here",
+         DiagnosticIDs::Note)
+        << Letters[Index];
+  }
+}
+
+} // namespace clang::tidy::bugprone
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.h b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..953ab63298df7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/ChainedComparisonCheck.h
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+//===--- ChainedComparisonCheck.h - clang-tidy ------------------*- C++ -*-===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#ifndef LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_BUGPRONE_CHAINEDCOMPARISONCHECK_H
+#define LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_BUGPRONE_CHAINEDCOMPARISONCHECK_H
+
+#include "../ClangTidyCheck.h"
+
+namespace clang::tidy::bugprone {
+
+/// Check detects chained comparison operators that can lead to unintended
+/// behavior or logical errors in C++ code.
+///
+/// For the user-facing documentation see:
+/// http://clang.llvm.org/extra/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/chained-comparison.html
+class ChainedComparisonCheck : public ClangTidyCheck {
+public:
+  ChainedComparisonCheck(StringRef Name, ClangTidyContext *Context)
+      : ClangTidyCheck(Name, Context) {}
+  void registerMatchers(ast_matchers::MatchFinder *Finder) override;
+  void check(const ast_matchers::MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) override;
+  bool isLanguageVersionSupported(const LangOptions &LangOpts) const override {
+    return LangOpts.CPlusPlus;
+  }
+  std::optional<TraversalKind> getCheckTraversalKind() const override {
+    return TK_IgnoreUnlessSpelledInSource;
+  }
+};
+
+} // namespace clang::tidy::bugprone
+
+#endif // LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_BUGPRONE_CHAINEDCOMPARISONCHECK_H
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst b/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
index 6e7554e0433c25..8410ea7e14cda6 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
@@ -136,6 +136,12 @@ New checks
 
   Detects unsafe or redundant two-step casting operations involving ``void*``.
 
+- New :doc:`bugprone-chained-comparison
+  <clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/chained-comparison>` check.
+
+  Check detects chained comparison operators that can lead to unintended
+  behavior or logical errors in C++ code.
+
 - New :doc:`bugprone-compare-pointer-to-member-virtual-function
   <clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/compare-pointer-to-member-virtual-function>` check.
 
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/chained-comparison.rst b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/chained-comparison.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..fb704c1eec68b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/chained-comparison.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+.. title:: clang-tidy - bugprone-chained-comparison
+
+bugprone-chained-comparison
+===========================
+
+Check detects chained comparison operators that can lead to unintended
+behavior or logical errors in C++ code.
+
+Chained comparisons are expressions that use multiple comparison operators
+to compare three or more values. For example, the expression ``a < b < c``
+compares the values of ``a``, ``b``, and ``c``. However, this expression does
+not evaluate as ``(a < b) && (b < c)``, which is probably what the developer
+intended. Instead, it evaluates as ``(a < b) < c``, which may produce
+unintended results, especially when the types of ``a``, ``b``, and ``c`` are
+different.
+
+To avoid such errors, the check will issue a warning when a chained
+comparison operator is detected, suggesting to use parentheses to specify
+the order of evaluation or to use a logical operator to separate comparison
+expressions.
+
+Consider the following examples:
+
+.. code-block:: c++
+
+    int a = 2, b = 6, c = 4;
+    if (a < b < c) {
+        // This block will be executed
+    }
+
+
+In this example, the developer intended to check if ``a`` is less than ``b``
+and ``b`` is less than ``c``. However, the expression ``a < b < c`` is
+equivalent to ``(a < b) < c``. Since ``a < b`` is ``true``, the expression
+``(a < b) < c`` is evaluated as ``1 < c``, which is equivalent to ``true < c``
+and is invalid in this case as ``b < c`` is ``false``.
+
+Even that above issue could be detected as comparison of ``int`` to ``bool``,
+there is more dangerous example:
+
+.. code-block:: c++
+
+    bool a = false, b = false, c = true;
+    if (a == b == c) {
+        // This block will be executed
+    }
+
+In this example, the developer intended to check if ``a``, ``b``, and ``c`` are
+all equal. However, the expression ``a == b == c`` is evaluated as
+``(a == b) == c``. Since ``a == b`` is true, the expression ``(a == b) == c``
+is evaluated as ``true == c``, which is equivalent to ``true == true``.
+This comparison yields ``true``, even though ``a`` and ``b`` are ``false``, and
+are not equal to ``c``.
+
+To avoid this issue, the developer can use a logical operator to separate the
+comparison expressions, like this:
+
+.. code-block:: c++
+
+    if (a == b && b == c) {
+        // This block will not be executed
+    }
+
+
+Alternatively, use of parentheses in the comparison expressions can make the
+developer's intention more explicit and help avoid misunderstanding.
+
+.. code-block:: c++
+
+    if ((a == b) == c) {
+        // This block will be executed
+    }
+
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst
index 39d8b490d927cc..bcfc68a04562f2 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ Clang-Tidy Checks
    :doc:`bugprone-bool-pointer-implicit-conversion <bugprone/bool-pointer-implicit-conversion>`, "Yes"
    :doc:`bugprone-branch-clone <bugprone/branch-clone>`,
    :doc:`bugprone-casting-through-void <bugprone/casting-through-void>`,
+   :doc:`bugprone-chained-comparison <bugprone/chained-comparison>`,
    :doc:`bugprone-compare-pointer-to-member-virtual-function <bugprone/compare-pointer-to-member-virtual-function>`,
    :doc:`bugprone-copy-constructor-init <bugprone/copy-constructor-init>`, "Yes"
    :doc:`bugprone-dangling-handle <bugprone/dangling-handle>`,
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/chained-comparison.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/chained-comparison.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..dea1ee732aa01e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/chained-comparison.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+// RUN: %check_clang_tidy -std=c++98-or-later %s bugprone-chained-comparison %t
+
+void badly_chained_1(int x, int y, int z)
+{
+    bool result = x < y < z;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a < b < c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_2(int x, int y, int z)
+{
+    bool result = x <= y <= z;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a <= b <= c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_3(int x, int y, int z)
+{
+    bool result = x > y > z;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a > b > c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_4(int x, int y, int z)
+{
+    bool result = x >= y >= z;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a >= b >= c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_5(int x, int y, int z)
+{
+    bool result = x == y != z;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a == b != c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_6(bool x, bool y, bool z)
+{
+    bool result = x != y == z;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a != b == c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_multiple(bool a, bool b, bool c, bool d, bool e, bool f, bool g, bool h)
+{
+    bool result = a == b == c == d == e == f == g == h;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a == b == c == d == e == f == g == h' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_limit(bool v[29])
+{
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE+1]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a == b == c == d == e == f == g == h == i == j == k == l == m == n == o == p == q == r == s == t == u == v == w == x == y == z ...' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+    bool result = v[0] == v[1] == v[2] == v[3] == v[4] == v[5] == v[6] == v[7] ==
+                  v[8] == v[9] == v[10] == v[11] == v[12] == v[13] == v[14] ==
+                  v[15] == v[16] == v[17] == v[18] == v[19] == v[20] == v[21] ==
+                  v[22] == v[23] == v[24] == v[25] == v[26] == v[27] == v[28];
+
+}
+
+void badly_chained_parens2(int x, int y, int z, int t, int a, int b)
+{
+    bool result = (x < y) < (z && t) > (a == b);
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:19: warning: chained comparison 'a < b > c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void badly_chained_inner(int x, int y, int z, int t, int u)
+{
+    bool result = x && y < z < t && u;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:24: warning: chained comparison 'a < b < c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+void properly_chained_1(int x, int y, int z)
+{
+    bool result = x < y && y < z;
+}
+
+void properly_chained_2(int x, int y, bool z)
+{
+    bool result = (x < y) == z;
+}
+
+struct Value {
+    bool operator<(const Value&) const;
+};
+
+bool operator==(bool, const Value&);
+
+bool badWithCppOperator(Value a, Value b, Value c) {
+    return a < b == c;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:12: warning: chained comparison 'a < b == c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]
+
+bool mixedBinaryAndCpp(Value a, Value b, bool c) {
+    return a < b == c;
+}
+// CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-2]]:12: warning: chained comparison 'a < b == c' may generate unintended results, use parentheses to specify order of evaluation or a logical operator to separate comparison expressions [bugprone-chained-comparison]



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