[Spice-devel] [PATCH v3 04/11] Rephrase assertion section

[Christophe de Dinechin]

From: Christophe de Dinechin <dinechin at redhat.com>

Signed-off-by: Christophe de Dinechin <dinechin at redhat.com>
---
 docs/spice_style.txt | 15 ++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/spice_style.txt b/docs/spice_style.txt
index 13032df6..eef4880f 100644
--- a/docs/spice_style.txt
+++ b/docs/spice_style.txt
@@ -99,10 +99,19 @@ FIXME and TODO
 
 Comments that are prefixed with `FIXME` describe a bug that need to be fixed. Generally, it is not allowed to commit new code having `FIXME` comment. Committing  `FIXME` is allowed only for existing bugs. Comments that are prefixed with `TODO` describe further features, optimization or code improvements, and they are allowed to be committed along with the relevant code.
 
-ASSERT
-------
+Assertions
+----------
+
+Use assertions liberally. Assertions help testing function arguments and function results validity. As a result, they make it easier to detect bugs. Also, by expressing the intent of the developer, they make the code easier to read.
+
+Several form of assertion exist. SPICE does not use the language `assert` much, but instead relies on the following variants:
+
+- `spice_assert`, defined in `common/log.h`, is never disabled at run-time and prints an error if the assertion fails.
+
+- `g_assert` and other variants defined in glib such as `g_assert_null`, can be diabled by setting `G_DISABLE_ASSERT` (which is never done in practice for SPICE code), and emits a message through the g_assertion_message function and its variants.
+
+The guidelines for selecting one or the other are not very clear from the existing code. The `spice_assert` variant may be preferred for SPICE-only code, as it makes it clearer that this assertion is coming from SPICE. The `g_assert` and variants may be preferred for assertions related to the use of glib.
 
-Use it freely. ASSERT helps testing function arguments and function results validity.  ASSERT helps detecting bugs and improve code readability and stability.
 
 sizeof
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2.13.5 (Apple Git-94)