1 /* GNU Objective C Runtime class related functions
2 Copyright (C) 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 Contributed by Kresten Krab Thorup and Dennis Glatting.
5 Lock-free class table code designed and written from scratch by
8 This file is part of GNU CC.
10 GNU CC is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
11 terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
12 Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.
14 GNU CC is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
15 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
16 FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more
19 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
20 GNU CC; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software
21 Foundation, 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. */
23 /* As a special exception, if you link this library with files compiled with
24 GCC to produce an executable, this does not cause the resulting executable
25 to be covered by the GNU General Public License. This exception does not
26 however invalidate any other reasons why the executable file might be
27 covered by the GNU General Public License. */
30 The code in this file critically affects class method invocation
31 speed. This long preamble comment explains why, and the issues
35 One of the traditional weaknesses of the GNU Objective-C runtime is
36 that class method invocations are slow. The reason is that when you
39 array = [NSArray new];
41 this gets basically compiled into the equivalent of
43 array = [(objc_get_class ("NSArray")) new];
45 objc_get_class returns the class pointer corresponding to the string
46 `NSArray'; and because of the lookup, the operation is more
47 complicated and slow than a simple instance method invocation.
49 Most high performance Objective-C code (using the GNU Objc runtime)
50 I had the opportunity to read (or write) work around this problem by
51 caching the class pointer:
53 Class arrayClass = [NSArray class];
57 array = [arrayClass new];
58 array = [arrayClass new];
59 array = [arrayClass new];
61 In this case, you always perform a class lookup (the first one), but
62 then all the [arrayClass new] methods run exactly as fast as an
63 instance method invocation. It helps if you have many class method
64 invocations to the same class.
66 The long-term solution to this problem would be to modify the
67 compiler to output tables of class pointers corresponding to all the
68 class method invocations, and to add code to the runtime to update
69 these tables - that should in the end allow class method invocations
70 to perform precisely as fast as instance method invocations, because
71 no class lookup would be involved. I think the Apple Objective-C
72 runtime uses this technique. Doing this involves synchronized
73 modifications in the runtime and in the compiler.
75 As a first medicine to the problem, I [NP] have redesigned and
76 rewritten the way the runtime is performing class lookup. This
77 doesn't give as much speed as the other (definitive) approach, but
78 at least a class method invocation now takes approximately 4.5 times
79 an instance method invocation on my machine (it would take approx 12
80 times before the rewriting), which is a lot better.
82 One of the main reason the new class lookup is so faster is because
83 I implemented it in a way that can safely run multithreaded without
84 using locks - a so-called `lock-free' data structure. The atomic
85 operation is pointer assignment. The reason why in this problem
86 lock-free data structures work so well is that you never remove
87 classes from the table - and the difficult thing with lock-free data
88 structures is freeing data when is removed from the structures. */
90 #include "runtime.h" /* the kitchen sink */
93 #include <objc/objc.h>
94 #include <objc/objc-api.h>
97 /* We use a table which maps a class name to the corresponding class
98 * pointer. The first part of this file defines this table, and
99 * functions to do basic operations on the table. The second part of
100 * the file implements some higher level Objective-C functionality for
101 * classes by using the functions provided in the first part to manage
105 ** Class Table Internals
108 /* A node holding a class */
109 typedef struct class_node
111 struct class_node
*next
; /* Pointer to next entry on the list.
112 NULL indicates end of list. */
114 const char *name
; /* The class name string */
115 int length
; /* The class name string length */
116 Class pointer
; /* The Class pointer */
120 /* A table containing classes is a class_node_ptr (pointing to the
121 first entry in the table - if it is NULL, then the table is
124 /* We have 1024 tables. Each table contains all class names which
125 have the same hash (which is a number between 0 and 1023). To look
126 up a class_name, we compute its hash, and get the corresponding
127 table. Once we have the table, we simply compare strings directly
128 till we find the one which we want (using the length first). The
129 number of tables is quite big on purpose (a normal big application
130 has less than 1000 classes), so that you shouldn't normally get any
131 collisions, and get away with a single comparison (which we can't
132 avoid since we need to know that you have got the right thing). */
133 #define CLASS_TABLE_SIZE 1024
134 #define CLASS_TABLE_MASK 1023
136 static class_node_ptr class_table_array
[CLASS_TABLE_SIZE
];
138 /* The table writing mutex - we lock on writing to avoid conflicts
139 between different writers, but we read without locks. That is
140 possible because we assume pointer assignment to be an atomic
142 static objc_mutex_t __class_table_lock
= NULL
;
144 /* CLASS_TABLE_HASH is how we compute the hash of a class name. It is
145 a macro - *not* a function - arguments *are* modified directly.
147 INDEX should be a variable holding an int;
148 HASH should be a variable holding an int;
149 CLASS_NAME should be a variable holding a (char *) to the class_name.
151 After the macro is executed, INDEX contains the length of the
152 string, and HASH the computed hash of the string; CLASS_NAME is
155 #define CLASS_TABLE_HASH(INDEX, HASH, CLASS_NAME) \
157 for (INDEX = 0; CLASS_NAME[INDEX] != '\0'; INDEX++) \
159 HASH = (HASH << 4) ^ (HASH >> 28) ^ CLASS_NAME[INDEX]; \
162 HASH = (HASH ^ (HASH >> 10) ^ (HASH >> 20)) & CLASS_TABLE_MASK;
164 /* Setup the table. */
168 /* Start - nothing in the table. */
169 memset (class_table_array
, 0, sizeof(class_node_ptr
) * CLASS_TABLE_SIZE
);
171 /* The table writing mutex. */
172 __class_table_lock
= objc_mutex_allocate ();
176 /* Insert a class in the table (used when a new class is registered). */
178 class_table_insert (const char *class_name
, Class class_pointer
)
181 class_node_ptr new_node
;
183 /* Find out the class name's hash and length. */
184 CLASS_TABLE_HASH (length
, hash
, class_name
);
186 /* Prepare the new node holding the class. */
187 new_node
= objc_malloc (sizeof (struct class_node
));
188 new_node
->name
= class_name
;
189 new_node
->length
= length
;
190 new_node
->pointer
= class_pointer
;
192 /* Lock the table for modifications. */
193 objc_mutex_lock (__class_table_lock
);
195 /* Insert the new node in the table at the beginning of the table at
196 class_table_array[hash]. */
197 new_node
->next
= class_table_array
[hash
];
198 class_table_array
[hash
] = new_node
;
200 objc_mutex_unlock (__class_table_lock
);
203 /* Replace a class in the table (used only by poseAs:). */
205 class_table_replace (Class old_class_pointer
, Class new_class_pointer
)
210 objc_mutex_lock (__class_table_lock
);
213 node
= class_table_array
[hash
];
215 while (hash
< CLASS_TABLE_SIZE
)
220 if (hash
< CLASS_TABLE_SIZE
)
222 node
= class_table_array
[hash
];
227 Class class1
= node
->pointer
;
229 if (class1
== old_class_pointer
)
231 node
->pointer
= new_class_pointer
;
237 objc_mutex_unlock (__class_table_lock
);
241 /* Get a class from the table. This does not need mutex protection.
242 Currently, this function is called each time you call a static
243 method, this is why it must be very fast. */
245 class_table_get_safe (const char *class_name
)
250 /* Compute length and hash. */
251 CLASS_TABLE_HASH (length
, hash
, class_name
);
253 node
= class_table_array
[hash
];
259 if (node
->length
== length
)
261 /* Compare the class names. */
264 for (i
= 0; i
< length
; i
++)
266 if ((node
->name
)[i
] != class_name
[i
])
274 /* They are equal! */
275 return node
->pointer
;
279 while ((node
= node
->next
) != NULL
);
285 /* Enumerate over the class table. */
286 struct class_table_enumerator
294 class_table_next (struct class_table_enumerator
**e
)
296 struct class_table_enumerator
*enumerator
= *e
;
299 if (enumerator
== NULL
)
301 *e
= objc_malloc (sizeof (struct class_table_enumerator
));
303 enumerator
->hash
= 0;
304 enumerator
->node
= NULL
;
306 next
= class_table_array
[enumerator
->hash
];
310 next
= enumerator
->node
->next
;
315 enumerator
->node
= next
;
316 return enumerator
->node
->pointer
;
322 while (enumerator
->hash
< CLASS_TABLE_SIZE
)
324 next
= class_table_array
[enumerator
->hash
];
327 enumerator
->node
= next
;
328 return enumerator
->node
->pointer
;
333 /* Ok - table finished - done. */
334 objc_free (enumerator
);
339 #if 0 /* DEBUGGING FUNCTIONS */
340 /* Debugging function - print the class table. */
346 for (i
= 0; i
< CLASS_TABLE_SIZE
; i
++)
351 node
= class_table_array
[i
];
355 printf ("\t%s\n", node
->name
);
361 /* Debugging function - print an histogram of number of classes in
362 function of hash key values. Useful to evaluate the hash function
365 class_table_print_histogram ()
370 for (i
= 0; i
< CLASS_TABLE_SIZE
; i
++)
374 node
= class_table_array
[i
];
381 if (((i
+ 1) % 50) == 0)
383 printf ("%4d:", i
+ 1);
384 for (j
= 0; j
< counter
; j
++)
392 printf ("%4d:", i
+ 1);
393 for (j
= 0; j
< counter
; j
++)
399 #endif /* DEBUGGING FUNCTIONS */
402 ** Objective-C runtime functions
405 /* From now on, the only access to the class table data structure
406 should be via the class_table_* functions. */
408 /* This is a hook which is called by objc_get_class and
409 objc_lookup_class if the runtime is not able to find the class.
410 This may e.g. try to load in the class using dynamic loading. */
411 Class (*_objc_lookup_class
)(const char* name
) = 0; /* !T:SAFE */
414 /* True when class links has been resolved. */
415 BOOL __objc_class_links_resolved
= NO
; /* !T:UNUSED */
418 void __objc_init_class_tables()
420 /* Allocate the class hash table. */
422 if(__class_table_lock
)
425 objc_mutex_lock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
427 class_table_setup ();
429 objc_mutex_unlock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
432 /* This function adds a class to the class hash table, and assigns the
433 class a number, unless it's already known. */
435 __objc_add_class_to_hash(Class
class)
439 objc_mutex_lock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
441 /* Make sure the table is there. */
442 assert(__class_table_lock
);
444 /* Make sure it's not a meta class. */
445 assert(CLS_ISCLASS(class));
447 /* Check to see if the class is already in the hash table. */
448 h_class
= class_table_get_safe (class->name
);
451 /* The class isn't in the hash table. Add the class and assign a class
453 static unsigned int class_number
= 1;
455 CLS_SETNUMBER(class, class_number
);
456 CLS_SETNUMBER(class->class_pointer
, class_number
);
459 class_table_insert (class->name
, class);
462 objc_mutex_unlock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
465 /* Get the class object for the class named NAME. If NAME does not
466 identify a known class, the hook _objc_lookup_class is called. If
467 this fails, nil is returned. */
468 Class
objc_lookup_class (const char* name
)
472 class = class_table_get_safe (name
);
477 if (_objc_lookup_class
)
478 return (*_objc_lookup_class
)(name
);
483 /* Get the class object for the class named NAME. If NAME does not
484 identify a known class, the hook _objc_lookup_class is called. If
485 this fails, an error message is issued and the system aborts. */
487 objc_get_class (const char *name
)
491 class = class_table_get_safe (name
);
496 if (_objc_lookup_class
)
497 class = (*_objc_lookup_class
)(name
);
502 objc_error(nil
, OBJC_ERR_BAD_CLASS
,
503 "objc runtime: cannot find class %s\n", name
);
508 objc_get_meta_class(const char *name
)
510 return objc_get_class(name
)->class_pointer
;
513 /* This function provides a way to enumerate all the classes in the
514 executable. Pass *ENUM_STATE == NULL to start the enumeration. The
515 function will return 0 when there are no more classes.
519 while ((class = objc_next_class(&es)))
520 ... do something with class;
523 objc_next_class(void **enum_state
)
527 objc_mutex_lock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
529 /* Make sure the table is there. */
530 assert(__class_table_lock
);
532 class = class_table_next ((struct class_table_enumerator
**)enum_state
);
534 objc_mutex_unlock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
539 /* Resolve super/subclass links for all classes. The only thing we
540 can be sure of is that the class_pointer for class objects point to
541 the right meta class objects. */
542 void __objc_resolve_class_links()
544 struct class_table_enumerator
*es
= NULL
;
545 Class object_class
= objc_get_class ("Object");
548 assert(object_class
);
550 objc_mutex_lock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
552 /* Assign subclass links. */
553 while ((class1
= class_table_next (&es
)))
555 /* Make sure we have what we think we have. */
556 assert (CLS_ISCLASS(class1
));
557 assert (CLS_ISMETA(class1
->class_pointer
));
559 /* The class_pointer of all meta classes point to Object's meta
561 class1
->class_pointer
->class_pointer
= object_class
->class_pointer
;
563 if (!(CLS_ISRESOLV(class1
)))
565 CLS_SETRESOLV(class1
);
566 CLS_SETRESOLV(class1
->class_pointer
);
568 if(class1
->super_class
)
571 = objc_get_class ((char *) class1
->super_class
);
573 assert (a_super_class
);
575 DEBUG_PRINTF ("making class connections for: %s\n",
578 /* Assign subclass links for superclass. */
579 class1
->sibling_class
= a_super_class
->subclass_list
;
580 a_super_class
->subclass_list
= class1
;
582 /* Assign subclass links for meta class of superclass. */
583 if (a_super_class
->class_pointer
)
585 class1
->class_pointer
->sibling_class
586 = a_super_class
->class_pointer
->subclass_list
;
587 a_super_class
->class_pointer
->subclass_list
588 = class1
->class_pointer
;
591 else /* A root class, make its meta object be a subclass of
594 class1
->class_pointer
->sibling_class
595 = object_class
->subclass_list
;
596 object_class
->subclass_list
= class1
->class_pointer
;
601 /* Assign superclass links. */
603 while ((class1
= class_table_next (&es
)))
606 for (sub_class
= class1
->subclass_list
; sub_class
;
607 sub_class
= sub_class
->sibling_class
)
609 sub_class
->super_class
= class1
;
610 if(CLS_ISCLASS(sub_class
))
611 sub_class
->class_pointer
->super_class
= class1
->class_pointer
;
615 objc_mutex_unlock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
620 #define CLASSOF(c) ((c)->class_pointer)
623 class_pose_as (Class impostor
, Class super_class
)
625 if (!CLS_ISRESOLV (impostor
))
626 __objc_resolve_class_links ();
630 assert (super_class
);
631 assert (impostor
->super_class
== super_class
);
632 assert (CLS_ISCLASS (impostor
));
633 assert (CLS_ISCLASS (super_class
));
634 assert (impostor
->instance_size
== super_class
->instance_size
);
637 Class
*subclass
= &(super_class
->subclass_list
);
639 /* Move subclasses of super_class to impostor. */
642 Class nextSub
= (*subclass
)->sibling_class
;
644 if (*subclass
!= impostor
)
646 Class sub
= *subclass
;
649 sub
->sibling_class
= impostor
->subclass_list
;
650 sub
->super_class
= impostor
;
651 impostor
->subclass_list
= sub
;
653 /* It will happen that SUB is not a class object if it is
654 the top of the meta class hierarchy chain (root
655 meta-class objects inherit their class object). If
656 that is the case... don't mess with the meta-meta
658 if (CLS_ISCLASS (sub
))
661 CLASSOF (sub
)->sibling_class
=
662 CLASSOF (impostor
)->subclass_list
;
663 CLASSOF (sub
)->super_class
= CLASSOF (impostor
);
664 CLASSOF (impostor
)->subclass_list
= CLASSOF (sub
);
671 /* Set subclasses of superclass to be impostor only. */
672 super_class
->subclass_list
= impostor
;
673 CLASSOF (super_class
)->subclass_list
= CLASSOF (impostor
);
675 /* Set impostor to have no sibling classes. */
676 impostor
->sibling_class
= 0;
677 CLASSOF (impostor
)->sibling_class
= 0;
680 /* Check relationship of impostor and super_class is kept. */
681 assert (impostor
->super_class
== super_class
);
682 assert (CLASSOF (impostor
)->super_class
== CLASSOF (super_class
));
684 /* This is how to update the lookup table. Regardless of what the
685 keys of the hashtable is, change all values that are superclass
688 objc_mutex_lock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
690 class_table_replace (super_class
, impostor
);
692 objc_mutex_unlock(__objc_runtime_mutex
);
694 /* Next, we update the dispatch tables... */
695 __objc_update_dispatch_table_for_class (CLASSOF (impostor
));
696 __objc_update_dispatch_table_for_class (impostor
);