[libc-commits] [libc] [llvm] Refactor WIDE_READ to allow finer control over high-performance function selection (PR #165613)
via libc-commits
libc-commits at lists.llvm.org
Wed Oct 29 12:01:58 PDT 2025
https://github.com/Sterling-Augustine updated https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/165613
>From d7b5e8b22ce2a0bfb7740d4124f836ec0d7dfc55 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sterling Augustine <saugustine at google.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2025 09:58:48 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Refactor WIDE_READ mechanism to allow finer control over
function selection
---
.../modules/LLVMLibCCompileOptionRules.cmake | 5 +-
libc/config/config.json | 11 +-
libc/config/linux/arm/config.json | 7 +-
libc/config/linux/config.json | 7 +-
libc/config/linux/riscv/config.json | 7 +-
libc/docs/configure.rst | 3 +-
.../memory_utils/aarch64/inline_strlen.h | 6 +-
.../memory_utils/generic/inline_strlen.h | 5 +-
.../memory_utils/x86_64/inline_strlen.h | 14 +-
libc/src/string/string_utils.h | 138 +++++++++++-------
.../libc/libc_configure_options.bzl | 3 +-
11 files changed, 126 insertions(+), 80 deletions(-)
diff --git a/libc/cmake/modules/LLVMLibCCompileOptionRules.cmake b/libc/cmake/modules/LLVMLibCCompileOptionRules.cmake
index 4e9a9b66a63a7..f4e2a62d14b31 100644
--- a/libc/cmake/modules/LLVMLibCCompileOptionRules.cmake
+++ b/libc/cmake/modules/LLVMLibCCompileOptionRules.cmake
@@ -81,9 +81,8 @@ function(_get_compile_options_from_config output_var)
list(APPEND config_options "-DLIBC_QSORT_IMPL=${LIBC_CONF_QSORT_IMPL}")
endif()
- if(LIBC_CONF_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ)
- list(APPEND config_options "-DLIBC_COPT_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ")
- endif()
+ list(APPEND config_options "-DLIBC_COPT_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL=${LIBC_CONF_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL}")
+ list(APPEND config_options "-DLIBC_COPT_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL=${LIBC_CONF_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL}")
if(LIBC_CONF_MEMSET_X86_USE_SOFTWARE_PREFETCHING)
list(APPEND config_options "-DLIBC_COPT_MEMSET_X86_USE_SOFTWARE_PREFETCHING")
diff --git a/libc/config/config.json b/libc/config/config.json
index cfbe9a43948ea..12596a00911e2 100644
--- a/libc/config/config.json
+++ b/libc/config/config.json
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
"value": false,
"doc": "Use an alternative printf float implementation based on 320-bit floats"
},
+
"LIBC_CONF_PRINTF_DISABLE_FIXED_POINT": {
"value": false,
"doc": "Disable printing fixed point values in printf and friends."
@@ -64,9 +65,13 @@
}
},
"string": {
- "LIBC_CONF_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ": {
- "value": false,
- "doc": "Read more than a byte at a time to perform byte-string operations like strlen."
+ "LIBC_CONF_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL": {
+ "value": "element",
+ "doc": "Selects the implementation for string-length: 'element', 'wide', 'generic' (vector), or 'arch'."
+ },
+ "LIBC_CONF_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL": {
+ "value": "element",
+ "doc": "Selects the implementation for find-first-character-related functions: 'element', 'wide', 'generic' (vector), or 'arch'."
},
"LIBC_CONF_MEMSET_X86_USE_SOFTWARE_PREFETCHING": {
"value": false,
diff --git a/libc/config/linux/arm/config.json b/libc/config/linux/arm/config.json
index e7ad4544b104d..caa16744d389f 100644
--- a/libc/config/linux/arm/config.json
+++ b/libc/config/linux/arm/config.json
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
{
"string": {
- "LIBC_CONF_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ": {
- "value": false
+ "LIBC_CONF_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL": {
+ "value": "element"
+ }
+ "LIBC_CONF_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL": {
+ "value": "element"
}
}
}
diff --git a/libc/config/linux/config.json b/libc/config/linux/config.json
index 30e8b2cdadabe..93f5a1ef1f184 100644
--- a/libc/config/linux/config.json
+++ b/libc/config/linux/config.json
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
{
"string": {
- "LIBC_CONF_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ": {
- "value": true
+ "LIBC_CONF_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL": {
+ "value": "generic",
+ },
+ "LIBC_CONF_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL": {
+ "value": "wide",
}
}
}
diff --git a/libc/config/linux/riscv/config.json b/libc/config/linux/riscv/config.json
index e7ad4544b104d..caa16744d389f 100644
--- a/libc/config/linux/riscv/config.json
+++ b/libc/config/linux/riscv/config.json
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
{
"string": {
- "LIBC_CONF_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ": {
- "value": false
+ "LIBC_CONF_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL": {
+ "value": "element"
+ }
+ "LIBC_CONF_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL": {
+ "value": "element"
}
}
}
diff --git a/libc/docs/configure.rst b/libc/docs/configure.rst
index e23fc824ce7c8..3049738aff6e7 100644
--- a/libc/docs/configure.rst
+++ b/libc/docs/configure.rst
@@ -58,8 +58,9 @@ to learn about the defaults for your platform and target.
* **"setjmp" options**
- ``LIBC_CONF_SETJMP_AARCH64_RESTORE_PLATFORM_REGISTER``: Make setjmp save the value of x18, and longjmp restore it. The AArch64 ABI delegates this register to platform ABIs, which can choose whether to make it caller-saved.
* **"string" options**
+ - ``LIBC_CONF_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL``: Selects the implementation for find-first-character-related functions: 'element', 'wide', 'generic' (vector), or 'arch'.
- ``LIBC_CONF_MEMSET_X86_USE_SOFTWARE_PREFETCHING``: Inserts prefetch for write instructions (PREFETCHW) for memset on x86 to recover performance when hardware prefetcher is disabled.
- - ``LIBC_CONF_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ``: Read more than a byte at a time to perform byte-string operations like strlen.
+ - ``LIBC_CONF_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL``: Selects the implementation for string-length: 'element', 'wide', 'generic' (vector), or 'arch'.
* **"threads" options**
- ``LIBC_CONF_THREAD_MODE``: The implementation used for Mutex, acceptable values are LIBC_THREAD_MODE_PLATFORM, LIBC_THREAD_MODE_SINGLE, and LIBC_THREAD_MODE_EXTERNAL.
* **"time" options**
diff --git a/libc/src/string/memory_utils/aarch64/inline_strlen.h b/libc/src/string/memory_utils/aarch64/inline_strlen.h
index 87f5ccdd56e23..b39df3e474669 100644
--- a/libc/src/string/memory_utils/aarch64/inline_strlen.h
+++ b/libc/src/string/memory_utils/aarch64/inline_strlen.h
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
namespace LIBC_NAMESPACE_DECL {
-namespace neon {
+namespace arch {
[[maybe_unused]] LIBC_NO_SANITIZE_OOB_ACCESS LIBC_INLINE static size_t
string_length(const char *src) {
using Vector __attribute__((may_alias)) = uint8x8_t;
@@ -44,9 +44,7 @@ string_length(const char *src) {
(cpp::countr_zero(cmp) >> 3));
}
}
-} // namespace neon
-
-namespace string_length_impl = neon;
+} // namespace arch
} // namespace LIBC_NAMESPACE_DECL
#endif // __ARM_NEON
diff --git a/libc/src/string/memory_utils/generic/inline_strlen.h b/libc/src/string/memory_utils/generic/inline_strlen.h
index 69700e801bcea..7630c0b7caedf 100644
--- a/libc/src/string/memory_utils/generic/inline_strlen.h
+++ b/libc/src/string/memory_utils/generic/inline_strlen.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
#include "src/__support/common.h"
namespace LIBC_NAMESPACE_DECL {
-namespace internal {
+namespace generic {
// Exploit the underlying integer representation to do a variable shift.
LIBC_INLINE constexpr cpp::simd_mask<char> shift_mask(cpp::simd_mask<char> m,
@@ -46,9 +46,8 @@ LIBC_NO_SANITIZE_OOB_ACCESS LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length(const char *src) {
cpp::find_first_set(mask);
}
}
-} // namespace internal
+} // namespace generic
-namespace string_length_impl = internal;
} // namespace LIBC_NAMESPACE_DECL
#endif // LLVM_LIBC_SRC_STRING_MEMORY_UTILS_GENERIC_INLINE_STRLEN_H
diff --git a/libc/src/string/memory_utils/x86_64/inline_strlen.h b/libc/src/string/memory_utils/x86_64/inline_strlen.h
index 9e10d58363393..3d93960605f0c 100644
--- a/libc/src/string/memory_utils/x86_64/inline_strlen.h
+++ b/libc/src/string/memory_utils/x86_64/inline_strlen.h
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
namespace LIBC_NAMESPACE_DECL {
-namespace string_length_internal {
+namespace internal::arch {
+
// Return a bit-mask with the nth bit set if the nth-byte in block_ptr is zero.
template <typename Vector, typename Mask>
LIBC_NO_SANITIZE_OOB_ACCESS LIBC_INLINE static Mask
@@ -92,15 +93,18 @@ namespace avx512 {
}
} // namespace avx512
#endif
-} // namespace string_length_internal
+[[maybe_unused]] LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length(const char *src) {
#if defined(__AVX512F__)
-namespace string_length_impl = string_length_internal::avx512;
+ return avx512::string_length(src);
#elif defined(__AVX2__)
-namespace string_length_impl = string_length_internal::avx2;
+ return avx2::string_length(src);
#else
-namespace string_length_impl = string_length_internal::sse2;
+ return sse2::string_length(src);
#endif
+}
+
+} // namespace internal::arch
} // namespace LIBC_NAMESPACE_DECL
diff --git a/libc/src/string/string_utils.h b/libc/src/string/string_utils.h
index 7feef56fb3676..b9f020ca9097c 100644
--- a/libc/src/string/string_utils.h
+++ b/libc/src/string/string_utils.h
@@ -24,21 +24,56 @@
#include "src/__support/macros/optimization.h" // LIBC_UNLIKELY
#include "src/string/memory_utils/inline_memcpy.h"
-#if defined(LIBC_COPT_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ)
#if LIBC_HAS_VECTOR_TYPE
#include "src/string/memory_utils/generic/inline_strlen.h"
-#elif defined(LIBC_TARGET_ARCH_IS_X86)
+#endif
+#if defined(LIBC_TARGET_ARCH_IS_X86)
#include "src/string/memory_utils/x86_64/inline_strlen.h"
-#elif defined(LIBC_TARGET_ARCH_IS_AARCH64) && defined(__ARM_NEON)
+#elif defined(LIBC_TARGET_ARCH_IS_AARCH64)
#include "src/string/memory_utils/aarch64/inline_strlen.h"
-#else
-namespace string_length_impl = LIBC_NAMESPACE::wide_read;
#endif
-#endif // defined(LIBC_COPT_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ)
namespace LIBC_NAMESPACE_DECL {
namespace internal {
+#if !LIBC_HAS_VECTOR_TYPE
+// Foreword any generic vector impls to architecture specific ones
+namespace arch {}
+namespace generic = arch;
+#endif
+
+namespace element {
+// Element-by-element (usually a byte, but wider for wchar) implementations of
+// functions that search for data. Slow, but easy to understand and analyze.
+
+// Returns the length of a string, denoted by the first occurrence
+// of a null terminator.
+LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length(const char *src) {
+ size_t length;
+ for (length = 0; *src; ++src, ++length)
+ ;
+ return length;
+}
+
+template <typename T> LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length_element(const T *src) {
+ size_t length;
+ for (length = 0; *src; ++src, ++length)
+ ;
+ return length;
+}
+
+LIBC_INLINE void *find_first_character(const unsigned char *src,
+ unsigned char ch, size_t n) {
+ for (; n && *src != ch; --n, ++src)
+ ;
+ return n ? const_cast<unsigned char *>(src) : nullptr;
+}
+} // namespace element
+
+namespace wide {
+// Generic, non-vector, implementations of functions that search for data
+// by reading from memory block-by-block.
+
template <typename Word> LIBC_INLINE constexpr Word repeat_byte(Word byte) {
static_assert(CHAR_BIT == 8, "repeat_byte assumes a byte is 8 bits.");
constexpr size_t BITS_IN_BYTE = CHAR_BIT;
@@ -74,8 +109,13 @@ template <typename Word> LIBC_INLINE constexpr bool has_zeroes(Word block) {
return (subtracted & inverted & HIGH_BITS) != 0;
}
-template <typename Word>
-LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length_wide_read(const char *src) {
+// Unsigned int is the default size for most processors, and on x86-64 it
+// performs better than larger sizes when the src pointer can't be assumed to
+// be aligned to a word boundary, so it's the size we use for reading the
+// string a block at a time.
+
+LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length(const char *src) {
+ using Word = unsigned int;
const char *char_ptr = src;
// Step 1: read 1 byte at a time to align to block size
for (; reinterpret_cast<uintptr_t>(char_ptr) % sizeof(Word) != 0;
@@ -95,37 +135,23 @@ LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length_wide_read(const char *src) {
return static_cast<size_t>(char_ptr - src);
}
-namespace wide_read {
-LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length(const char *src) {
- // Unsigned int is the default size for most processors, and on x86-64 it
- // performs better than larger sizes when the src pointer can't be assumed to
- // be aligned to a word boundary, so it's the size we use for reading the
- // string a block at a time.
- return string_length_wide_read<unsigned int>(src);
-}
-
-} // namespace wide_read
-
-// Returns the length of a string, denoted by the first occurrence
-// of a null terminator.
-template <typename T> LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length(const T *src) {
-#ifdef LIBC_COPT_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ
- if constexpr (cpp::is_same_v<T, char>)
- return string_length_impl::string_length(src);
-#endif
- size_t length;
- for (length = 0; *src; ++src, ++length)
- ;
- return length;
-}
-
-template <typename Word>
LIBC_NO_SANITIZE_OOB_ACCESS LIBC_INLINE void *
-find_first_character_wide_read(const unsigned char *src, unsigned char ch,
- size_t n) {
+find_first_character(const unsigned char *src, unsigned char ch,
+ size_t max_strlen = cpp::numeric_limits<size_t>::max()) {
+ using Word = unsigned int;
const unsigned char *char_ptr = src;
size_t cur = 0;
+ // If the maximum size of the string is small, the overhead of aligning to a
+ // word boundary and generating a bitmask of the appropriate size may be
+ // greater than the gains from reading larger chunks. Based on some testing,
+ // the crossover point between when it's faster to just read bytewise and read
+ // blocks is somewhere between 16 and 32, so 4 times the size of the block
+ // should be in that range.
+ if (max_strlen < (sizeof(Word) * 4)) {
+ return element::find_first_character(src, ch, max_strlen);
+ }
+ size_t n = max_strlen;
// Step 1: read 1 byte at a time to align to block size
for (; reinterpret_cast<uintptr_t>(char_ptr) % sizeof(Word) != 0 && cur < n;
++char_ptr, ++cur) {
@@ -153,31 +179,35 @@ find_first_character_wide_read(const unsigned char *src, unsigned char ch,
return const_cast<unsigned char *>(char_ptr);
}
-LIBC_INLINE void *find_first_character_byte_read(const unsigned char *src,
- unsigned char ch, size_t n) {
- for (; n && *src != ch; --n, ++src)
- ;
- return n ? const_cast<unsigned char *>(src) : nullptr;
+} // namespace wide
+
+// Dispatch mechanism for implementations of performance-sensitive
+// functions. Always measure, but generally from lower- to higher-performance
+// order:
+//
+// 1. element - read char-by-char or wchar-by-wchar
+// 3. wide - read word-by-word
+// 3. generic - read using clang's internal vector types
+// 4. arch - hand-coded per architecture. Possibly in asm, or with intrinsics.
+//
+//The called implemenation is chosen at build-time by setting
+// LIBC_CONF_{FUNC}_IMPL in config.json
+static constexpr auto &string_length_impl =
+ LIBC_COPT_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL::string_length;
+static constexpr auto &find_first_character_impl =
+ LIBC_COPT_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL::find_first_character;
+
+template <typename T> LIBC_INLINE size_t string_length(const T *src) {
+ if constexpr (cpp::is_same_v<T, char>)
+ return string_length_impl(src);
+ return element::string_length_element<T>(src);
}
// Returns the first occurrence of 'ch' within the first 'n' characters of
// 'src'. If 'ch' is not found, returns nullptr.
LIBC_INLINE void *find_first_character(const unsigned char *src,
unsigned char ch, size_t max_strlen) {
-#ifdef LIBC_COPT_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ
- // If the maximum size of the string is small, the overhead of aligning to a
- // word boundary and generating a bitmask of the appropriate size may be
- // greater than the gains from reading larger chunks. Based on some testing,
- // the crossover point between when it's faster to just read bytewise and read
- // blocks is somewhere between 16 and 32, so 4 times the size of the block
- // should be in that range.
- // Unsigned int is used for the same reason as in strlen.
- using BlockType = unsigned int;
- if (max_strlen > (sizeof(BlockType) * 4)) {
- return find_first_character_wide_read<BlockType>(src, ch, max_strlen);
- }
-#endif
- return find_first_character_byte_read(src, ch, max_strlen);
+ return find_first_character_impl(src, ch, max_strlen);
}
// Returns the maximum length span that contains only characters not found in
diff --git a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/libc/libc_configure_options.bzl b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/libc/libc_configure_options.bzl
index 259d4d292fcf4..6166f52f80f8b 100644
--- a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/libc/libc_configure_options.bzl
+++ b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/libc/libc_configure_options.bzl
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ LIBC_CONFIGURE_OPTIONS = [
# "LIBC_COPT_SCANF_DISABLE_FLOAT",
# "LIBC_COPT_SCANF_DISABLE_INDEX_MODE",
"LIBC_COPT_STDIO_USE_SYSTEM_FILE",
- "LIBC_COPT_STRING_UNSAFE_WIDE_READ",
+ "LIBC_COPT_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL=generic",
+ "LIBC_COPT_FIND_FIRST_CHARACTER_IMPL=wide",
# "LIBC_COPT_STRTOFLOAT_DISABLE_CLINGER_FAST_PATH",
# "LIBC_COPT_STRTOFLOAT_DISABLE_EISEL_LEMIRE",
# "LIBC_COPT_STRTOFLOAT_DISABLE_SIMPLE_DECIMAL_CONVERSION",
>From 5df3ff461f3c33c5ddd678f986feb06f58339661 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sterling Augustine <saugustine at google.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:01:35 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Fix formatting
---
libc/src/string/string_utils.h | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/libc/src/string/string_utils.h b/libc/src/string/string_utils.h
index b9f020ca9097c..833879795a236 100644
--- a/libc/src/string/string_utils.h
+++ b/libc/src/string/string_utils.h
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ find_first_character(const unsigned char *src, unsigned char ch,
// 3. generic - read using clang's internal vector types
// 4. arch - hand-coded per architecture. Possibly in asm, or with intrinsics.
//
-//The called implemenation is chosen at build-time by setting
+// The called implemenation is chosen at build-time by setting
// LIBC_CONF_{FUNC}_IMPL in config.json
static constexpr auto &string_length_impl =
LIBC_COPT_STRING_LENGTH_IMPL::string_length;
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