[llvm-dev] Which assumptions do llvm.memcpy/memmove/memset.* make when the count is 0?

[Ralf Jung via llvm-dev]

Hi,

> So, the pointer arguments of memcpy shall (a violation of a shall clause is UB, per §4/2) have valid values, even though the function will copy zero characters.

So this puts a bound on what LLVM can do, right?  However, (also judging
from the other answers) LLVM sometimes guarantees more than C does.

>> Here's the thread I read about it:
>> http://lists.llvm.org/pipermail/cfe-dev/2017-January/052066.html . As
>> I recall, the tl;dr was "optimizing these assumptions to death doesn't
>> realistically buy us much of anything, and there's a nontrivial amount
>> of real-world code that depends on this behavior."
> 
> Yeah, I recall that thread. The issue is that the current question comes
> from Rust whereas the previous discussion was freely mixing C/C++ and
> middle-end issues. We need to separate these.

Ah, I wanted to link to that thread but couldn't find it; thanks.
Right, so this is specifically about the llvm intrinsics that Rust uses,
and *not* about the C/C++ frontend.

> I propose documenting in the LangRef

Documenting such issues in the LangRef would be great. :)  That's always
the place I go to with corner cases like this, but often I don't find
the answer there either.  (Btw, when I come up with such a corner case
-- is there a bugtracker where "please clarify LangRef"-kind of issues
can be submitted to, or is the mailing list the best venue?)

> that memcpy and related intrinsics
> are defined even when src and dst don't refer to valid storage as long
> as the length argument is zero. Then we commit to implementing that
> behavior. Is that OK with everyone? If so I can update the doc.

Please also clarify the behavior for NULL or unaligned pointers.  (There
seems to be an entire lattice of "validity levels" for a pointer:
Completely broken, non-NULL and/or aligned, as well as aligned and
pointing to valid storage.)

Judging from "memcpy(NULL, _, 0) is okay", I suppose NULL is okay (both
for src and dest), which only leaves open the question of alignment.

Kind regards,
Ralf