[Pixman] [PATCH 1/4] pixman-fast-path: Add over_n_8888 fast path (disabled)

[Pekka Paalanen]

On Sat, 22 Aug 2015 13:14:08 -0700
Matt Turner <mattst88 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Aug 20, 2015 at 6:58 AM, Pekka Paalanen <ppaalanen at gmail.com> wrote:
> > From: Ben Avison <bavison at riscosopen.org>
> >
> > This is a C fast path, useful for reference or for platforms that don't
> > have their own fast path for this operation.
> >
> > This new fast path is initially disabled by putting the entries in the
> > lookup table after the sentinel. The compiler cannot tell the new code
> > is not used, so it cannot eliminate the code. Also the lookup table size
> > will include the new fast path. When the follow-up patch then enables
> > the new fast path, the binary layout (alignments, size, etc.) will stay
> > the same compared to the disabled case.
> >
> > Keeping the binary layout identical is important for benchmarking on
> > Raspberry Pi 1. The addresses at which functions are loaded will have a
> > significant impact on benchmark results, causing unexpected performance
> > changes. Keeping all function addresses the same across the patch
> > enabling a new fast path improves the reliability of benchmarks.
> >
> > Benchmark results are included in the patch enabling this fast path.
> >
> > [Pekka: disabled the fast path, commit message]
> > Signed-off-by: Pekka Paalanen <pekka.paalanen at collabora.co.uk>
> 
> I don't care strongly, but I might just squash 1+2, 3+4 together and
> make a mention in the commit message of exactly what the benchmark
> numbers are comparing.

Hi Matt,

yes, that's always a possibility, but then I need to explain what the
benchmarked code revisions looked like which is prone to
misunderstanding. So personally I would prefer to land exactly the
revisions of the code that were tested/benchmarked, so that posterity
can (at least in theory) repeat the benchmarks if needed. Or has that
little value?

Maybe I should elaborate on how to iterate benchmarks in the "enable"
patches.

To me this has documentary value, also in educating others on the
quirks of rpi1. I don't generally intend to use this style for anything
but rpi1 specific patches.

Does keeping the patches split make reviewing harder?

I could also keep these 4 as is and squash the future patches?


Thanks,
pq
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