[pypy-commit] pypy improve-docs: Add information for Ronan.

Manuel Jacob noreply at buildbot.pypy.org
Sat May 11 14:29:41 CEST 2013


Author: Manuel Jacob
Branch: improve-docs
Changeset: r63979:c8a71c794e74
Date: 2013-05-11 14:28 +0200
http://bitbucket.org/pypy/pypy/changeset/c8a71c794e74/

Log:	Add information for Ronan.

diff --git a/pypy/doc/objspace.rst b/pypy/doc/objspace.rst
--- a/pypy/doc/objspace.rst
+++ b/pypy/doc/objspace.rst
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 if-statements (or rather, to be pedantic, to implement the
 conditional-branching bytecodes into which if-statements get compiled).
 
-We have many working object spaces which can be plugged into
+We have some working object spaces which can be plugged into
 the bytecode interpreter:
 
 - The *Standard Object Space* is a complete implementation
@@ -44,11 +44,6 @@
   when an operation is performed on them), security-checking objects,
   distributed objects living on several machines, etc.
 
-- the *Flow Object Space* transforms a Python program into a
-  flow-graph representation, by recording all operations that the bytecode
-  interpreter would like to perform when it is shown the given Python
-  program.  This technique is explained :doc:`in another document <rpython:translation>`.
-
 The present document gives a description of the above object spaces.
 The sources of PyPy contain the various object spaces in the directory
 :source:`pypy/objspace/`.
@@ -481,81 +476,6 @@
 ``6L.__radd__(5)`` being called, as in CPython.
 
 
-.. _flow-object-space:
-
-The Flow Object Space
----------------------
-
-Introduction
-~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-The task of the FlowObjSpace (the source is at :source:`pypy/objspace/flow/`) is to generate a control-flow graph from a
-function.  This graph will also contain a trace of the individual operations, so
-that it is actually just an alternate representation for the function.
-
-The FlowObjSpace is an object space, which means that it exports the standard
-object space interface and it is driven by the bytecode interpreter.
-
-The basic idea is that if the bytecode interpreter is given a function, e.g.::
-
-  def f(n):
-    return 3*n+2
-
-it will do whatever bytecode dispatching and stack-shuffling needed, during
-which it issues a sequence of calls to the object space.  The FlowObjSpace
-merely records these calls (corresponding to "operations") in a structure called
-a basic block.  To track which value goes where, the FlowObjSpace invents
-placeholder "wrapped objects" and give them to the interpreter, so that they
-appear in some next operation.  This technique is an example of `Abstract
-Interpretation`_.
-
-.. _Abstract Interpretation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_interpretation
-
-For example, if the placeholder ``v1`` is given as the argument to the above
-function, the bytecode interpreter will call ``v2 = space.mul(space.wrap(3),
-v1)`` and then ``v3 = space.add(v2, space.wrap(2))`` and return ``v3`` as the
-result.  During these calls the FlowObjSpace will record a basic block::
-
-  Block(v1):     # input argument
-    v2 = mul(Constant(3), v1)
-    v3 = add(v2, Constant(2))
-
-
-The Flow model
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-The data structures built up by the flow object space are described in the
-:ref:`translation document <rpython:flow-model>`.
-
-
-How the FlowObjSpace works
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-The FlowObjSpace works by recording all operations issued by the bytecode
-interpreter into basic blocks.  A basic block ends in one of two cases: when
-the bytecode interpreters calls ``is_true()``, or when a joinpoint is reached.
-
-* A joinpoint occurs when the next operation is about to be recorded into the
-  current block, but there is already another block that records an operation
-  for the same bytecode position.  This means that the bytecode interpreter
-  has closed a loop and is interpreting already-seen code again.  In this
-  situation, we interrupt the bytecode interpreter and we make a link from the
-  end of the current block back to the previous block, thus closing the loop
-  in the flow graph as well.  (Note that this occurs only when an operation is
-  about to be recorded, which allows some amount of constant-folding.)
-
-* If the bytecode interpreter calls ``is_true()``, the FlowObjSpace doesn't
-  generally know if the answer should be True or False, so it puts a
-  conditional jump and generates two successor blocks for the current basic
-  block.  There is some trickery involved so that the bytecode interpreter is
-  fooled into thinking that ``is_true()`` first returns False (and the
-  subsequent operations are recorded in the first successor block), and later
-  the *same* call to ``is_true()`` also returns True (and the subsequent
-  operations go this time to the other successor block).
-
-(This section to be extended...)
-
-
 Object Space proxies
 --------------------
 
diff --git a/rpython/doc/ronan.rst b/rpython/doc/ronan.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rpython/doc/ronan.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,245 @@
+..
+   @Ronan: This is the old documentation for the flow object space and flow model.
+   Please integrate (and edit when needed) this into the new section in the document rpython/doc/translation.rst (section "Building Flow Graphs").
+
+
+.. _flow-object-space:
+
+The Flow Object Space
+---------------------
+
+Introduction
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The task of the FlowObjSpace (the source is at :source:`pypy/objspace/flow/`) is to generate a control-flow graph from a
+function.  This graph will also contain a trace of the individual operations, so
+that it is actually just an alternate representation for the function.
+
+The FlowObjSpace is an object space, which means that it exports the standard
+object space interface and it is driven by the bytecode interpreter.
+
+The basic idea is that if the bytecode interpreter is given a function, e.g.::
+
+  def f(n):
+    return 3*n+2
+
+it will do whatever bytecode dispatching and stack-shuffling needed, during
+which it issues a sequence of calls to the object space.  The FlowObjSpace
+merely records these calls (corresponding to "operations") in a structure called
+a basic block.  To track which value goes where, the FlowObjSpace invents
+placeholder "wrapped objects" and give them to the interpreter, so that they
+appear in some next operation.  This technique is an example of `Abstract
+Interpretation`_.
+
+.. _Abstract Interpretation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_interpretation
+
+For example, if the placeholder ``v1`` is given as the argument to the above
+function, the bytecode interpreter will call ``v2 = space.mul(space.wrap(3),
+v1)`` and then ``v3 = space.add(v2, space.wrap(2))`` and return ``v3`` as the
+result.  During these calls the FlowObjSpace will record a basic block::
+
+  Block(v1):     # input argument
+    v2 = mul(Constant(3), v1)
+    v3 = add(v2, Constant(2))
+
+
+The Flow model
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The data structures built up by the flow object space are described in the
+:ref:`translation document <rpython:flow-model>`.
+
+
+How the FlowObjSpace works
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The FlowObjSpace works by recording all operations issued by the bytecode
+interpreter into basic blocks.  A basic block ends in one of two cases: when
+the bytecode interpreters calls ``is_true()``, or when a joinpoint is reached.
+
+* A joinpoint occurs when the next operation is about to be recorded into the
+  current block, but there is already another block that records an operation
+  for the same bytecode position.  This means that the bytecode interpreter
+  has closed a loop and is interpreting already-seen code again.  In this
+  situation, we interrupt the bytecode interpreter and we make a link from the
+  end of the current block back to the previous block, thus closing the loop
+  in the flow graph as well.  (Note that this occurs only when an operation is
+  about to be recorded, which allows some amount of constant-folding.)
+
+* If the bytecode interpreter calls ``is_true()``, the FlowObjSpace doesn't
+  generally know if the answer should be True or False, so it puts a
+  conditional jump and generates two successor blocks for the current basic
+  block.  There is some trickery involved so that the bytecode interpreter is
+  fooled into thinking that ``is_true()`` first returns False (and the
+  subsequent operations are recorded in the first successor block), and later
+  the *same* call to ``is_true()`` also returns True (and the subsequent
+  operations go this time to the other successor block).
+
+(This section to be extended...)
+
+
+
+.. _flow-model:
+
+The Flow Model
+--------------
+
+The :ref:`Flow Object Space <flow-object-space>` is described in the `document
+describing object spaces`_. Here we describe the data structures produced by it,
+which are the basic data structures of the translation
+process.
+
+All these types are defined in :source:`rpython/flowspace/model.py` (which is a rather
+important module in the PyPy source base, to reinforce the point).
+
+The flow graph of a function is represented by the class ``FunctionGraph``.
+It contains a reference to a collection of ``Block``\ s connected by ``Link``\ s.
+
+A ``Block`` contains a list of ``SpaceOperation``\ s.  Each ``SpaceOperation``
+has an ``opname`` and a list of ``args`` and ``result``, which are either
+``Variable``\ s or ``Constant``\ s.
+
+We have an extremely useful PyGame viewer, which allows you to visually
+inspect the graphs at various stages of the translation process (very
+useful to try to work out why things are breaking).  It looks like this:
+
+   .. image:: _static/bpnn_update.png
+
+It is recommended to play with ``python bin/translatorshell.py`` on a few
+examples to get an idea of the structure of flow graphs. The following describes
+the types and their attributes in some detail:
+
+
+``FunctionGraph``
+    A container for one graph (corresponding to one function).
+
+    :startblock:   the first block.  It is where the control goes when the
+                   function is called.  The input arguments of the startblock
+                   are the function's arguments.  If the function takes a
+                   ``*args`` argument, the ``args`` tuple is given as the last
+                   input argument of the startblock.
+
+    :returnblock:  the (unique) block that performs a function return.  It is
+                   empty, not actually containing any ``return`` operation; the
+                   return is implicit.  The returned value is the unique input
+                   variable of the returnblock.
+
+    :exceptblock:  the (unique) block that raises an exception out of the
+                   function.  The two input variables are the exception class
+                   and the exception value, respectively.  (No other block will
+                   actually link to the exceptblock if the function does not
+                   explicitly raise exceptions.)
+
+
+``Block``
+    A basic block, containing a list of operations and ending in jumps to other
+    basic blocks.  All the values that are "live" during the execution of the
+    block are stored in Variables.  Each basic block uses its own distinct
+    Variables.
+
+    :inputargs:   list of fresh, distinct Variables that represent all the
+                  values that can enter this block from any of the previous
+                  blocks.
+
+    :operations:  list of SpaceOperations.
+    :exitswitch:  see below
+
+    :exits:       list of Links representing possible jumps from the end of this
+                  basic block to the beginning of other basic blocks.
+
+    Each Block ends in one of the following ways:
+
+    * unconditional jump: exitswitch is None, exits contains a single Link.
+
+    * conditional jump: exitswitch is one of the Variables that appear in the
+      Block, and exits contains one or more Links (usually 2).  Each Link's
+      exitcase gives a concrete value.  This is the equivalent of a "switch":
+      the control follows the Link whose exitcase matches the run-time value of
+      the exitswitch Variable.  It is a run-time error if the Variable doesn't
+      match any exitcase.
+
+    * exception catching: exitswitch is ``Constant(last_exception)``.  The first
+      Link has exitcase set to None and represents the non-exceptional path.
+      The next Links have exitcase set to a subclass of Exception, and are taken
+      when the *last* operation of the basic block raises a matching exception.
+      (Thus the basic block must not be empty, and only the last operation is
+      protected by the handler.)
+
+    * return or except: the returnblock and the exceptblock have operations set
+      to an empty tuple, exitswitch to None, and exits empty.
+
+
+``Link``
+    A link from one basic block to another.
+
+    :prevblock:  the Block that this Link is an exit of.
+
+    :target:     the target Block to which this Link points to.
+
+    :args:       a list of Variables and Constants, of the same size as the
+                 target Block's inputargs, which gives all the values passed
+                 into the next block.  (Note that each Variable used in the
+                 prevblock may appear zero, one or more times in the ``args``
+                 list.)
+
+    :exitcase:   see above.
+
+    :last_exception: None or a Variable; see below.
+
+    :last_exc_value: None or a Variable; see below.
+
+    Note that ``args`` uses Variables from the prevblock, which are matched to
+    the target block's ``inputargs`` by position, as in a tuple assignment or
+    function call would do.
+
+    If the link is an exception-catching one, the ``last_exception`` and
+    ``last_exc_value`` are set to two fresh Variables that are considered to be
+    created when the link is entered; at run-time, they will hold the exception
+    class and value, respectively.  These two new variables can only be used in
+    the same link's ``args`` list, to be passed to the next block (as usual,
+    they may actually not appear at all, or appear several times in ``args``).
+
+
+``SpaceOperation``
+    A recorded (or otherwise generated) basic operation.
+
+    :opname:  the name of the operation. The Flow Space produces only operations
+              from the list in ``pypy.interpreter.baseobjspace``, but later the
+              names can be changed arbitrarily.
+
+    :args:    list of arguments.  Each one is a Constant or a Variable seen
+              previously in the basic block.
+
+    :result:  a *new* Variable into which the result is to be stored.
+
+    Note that operations usually cannot implicitly raise exceptions at run-time;
+    so for example, code generators can assume that a ``getitem`` operation on a
+    list is safe and can be performed without bound checking.  The exceptions to
+    this rule are: (1) if the operation is the last in the block, which ends
+    with ``exitswitch == Constant(last_exception)``, then the implicit
+    exceptions must be checked for, generated, and caught appropriately; (2)
+    calls to other functions, as per ``simple_call`` or ``call_args``, can
+    always raise whatever the called function can raise --- and such exceptions
+    must be passed through to the parent unless they are caught as above.
+
+
+``Variable``
+    A placeholder for a run-time value.  There is mostly debugging stuff here.
+
+    :name:  it is good style to use the Variable object itself instead of its
+            ``name`` attribute to reference a value, although the ``name`` is
+            guaranteed unique.
+
+
+``Constant``
+    A constant value used as argument to a SpaceOperation, or as value to pass
+    across a Link to initialize an input Variable in the target Block.
+
+    :value:  the concrete value represented by this Constant.
+    :key:    a hashable object representing the value.
+
+    A Constant can occasionally store a mutable Python object.  It represents a
+    static, pre-initialized, read-only version of that object.  The flow graph
+    should not attempt to actually mutate such Constants.
+
+.. _document describing object spaces: objspace.html
diff --git a/rpython/doc/translation.rst b/rpython/doc/translation.rst
--- a/rpython/doc/translation.rst
+++ b/rpython/doc/translation.rst
@@ -101,170 +101,12 @@
 .. _abstract interpretation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_interpretation
 
 
-.. _flow-model:
+.. _flow-graphs:
 
-The Flow Model
---------------
+Building Flow Graphs
+--------------------
 
-The :ref:`Flow Object Space <flow-object-space>` is described in the `document
-describing object spaces`_. Here we describe the data structures produced by it,
-which are the basic data structures of the translation
-process.
-
-All these types are defined in :source:`rpython/flowspace/model.py` (which is a rather
-important module in the PyPy source base, to reinforce the point).
-
-The flow graph of a function is represented by the class ``FunctionGraph``.
-It contains a reference to a collection of ``Block``\ s connected by ``Link``\ s.
-
-A ``Block`` contains a list of ``SpaceOperation``\ s.  Each ``SpaceOperation``
-has an ``opname`` and a list of ``args`` and ``result``, which are either
-``Variable``\ s or ``Constant``\ s.
-
-We have an extremely useful PyGame viewer, which allows you to visually
-inspect the graphs at various stages of the translation process (very
-useful to try to work out why things are breaking).  It looks like this:
-
-   .. image:: _static/bpnn_update.png
-
-It is recommended to play with ``python bin/translatorshell.py`` on a few
-examples to get an idea of the structure of flow graphs. The following describes
-the types and their attributes in some detail:
-
-
-``FunctionGraph``
-    A container for one graph (corresponding to one function).
-
-    :startblock:   the first block.  It is where the control goes when the
-                   function is called.  The input arguments of the startblock
-                   are the function's arguments.  If the function takes a
-                   ``*args`` argument, the ``args`` tuple is given as the last
-                   input argument of the startblock.
-
-    :returnblock:  the (unique) block that performs a function return.  It is
-                   empty, not actually containing any ``return`` operation; the
-                   return is implicit.  The returned value is the unique input
-                   variable of the returnblock.
-
-    :exceptblock:  the (unique) block that raises an exception out of the
-                   function.  The two input variables are the exception class
-                   and the exception value, respectively.  (No other block will
-                   actually link to the exceptblock if the function does not
-                   explicitly raise exceptions.)
-
-
-``Block``
-    A basic block, containing a list of operations and ending in jumps to other
-    basic blocks.  All the values that are "live" during the execution of the
-    block are stored in Variables.  Each basic block uses its own distinct
-    Variables.
-
-    :inputargs:   list of fresh, distinct Variables that represent all the
-                  values that can enter this block from any of the previous
-                  blocks.
-
-    :operations:  list of SpaceOperations.
-    :exitswitch:  see below
-
-    :exits:       list of Links representing possible jumps from the end of this
-                  basic block to the beginning of other basic blocks.
-
-    Each Block ends in one of the following ways:
-
-    * unconditional jump: exitswitch is None, exits contains a single Link.
-
-    * conditional jump: exitswitch is one of the Variables that appear in the
-      Block, and exits contains one or more Links (usually 2).  Each Link's
-      exitcase gives a concrete value.  This is the equivalent of a "switch":
-      the control follows the Link whose exitcase matches the run-time value of
-      the exitswitch Variable.  It is a run-time error if the Variable doesn't
-      match any exitcase.
-
-    * exception catching: exitswitch is ``Constant(last_exception)``.  The first
-      Link has exitcase set to None and represents the non-exceptional path.
-      The next Links have exitcase set to a subclass of Exception, and are taken
-      when the *last* operation of the basic block raises a matching exception.
-      (Thus the basic block must not be empty, and only the last operation is
-      protected by the handler.)
-
-    * return or except: the returnblock and the exceptblock have operations set
-      to an empty tuple, exitswitch to None, and exits empty.
-
-
-``Link``
-    A link from one basic block to another.
-
-    :prevblock:  the Block that this Link is an exit of.
-
-    :target:     the target Block to which this Link points to.
-
-    :args:       a list of Variables and Constants, of the same size as the
-                 target Block's inputargs, which gives all the values passed
-                 into the next block.  (Note that each Variable used in the
-                 prevblock may appear zero, one or more times in the ``args``
-                 list.)
-
-    :exitcase:   see above.
-
-    :last_exception: None or a Variable; see below.
-
-    :last_exc_value: None or a Variable; see below.
-
-    Note that ``args`` uses Variables from the prevblock, which are matched to
-    the target block's ``inputargs`` by position, as in a tuple assignment or
-    function call would do.
-
-    If the link is an exception-catching one, the ``last_exception`` and
-    ``last_exc_value`` are set to two fresh Variables that are considered to be
-    created when the link is entered; at run-time, they will hold the exception
-    class and value, respectively.  These two new variables can only be used in
-    the same link's ``args`` list, to be passed to the next block (as usual,
-    they may actually not appear at all, or appear several times in ``args``).
-
-
-``SpaceOperation``
-    A recorded (or otherwise generated) basic operation.
-
-    :opname:  the name of the operation. The Flow Space produces only operations
-              from the list in ``pypy.interpreter.baseobjspace``, but later the
-              names can be changed arbitrarily.
-
-    :args:    list of arguments.  Each one is a Constant or a Variable seen
-              previously in the basic block.
-
-    :result:  a *new* Variable into which the result is to be stored.
-
-    Note that operations usually cannot implicitly raise exceptions at run-time;
-    so for example, code generators can assume that a ``getitem`` operation on a
-    list is safe and can be performed without bound checking.  The exceptions to
-    this rule are: (1) if the operation is the last in the block, which ends
-    with ``exitswitch == Constant(last_exception)``, then the implicit
-    exceptions must be checked for, generated, and caught appropriately; (2)
-    calls to other functions, as per ``simple_call`` or ``call_args``, can
-    always raise whatever the called function can raise --- and such exceptions
-    must be passed through to the parent unless they are caught as above.
-
-
-``Variable``
-    A placeholder for a run-time value.  There is mostly debugging stuff here.
-
-    :name:  it is good style to use the Variable object itself instead of its
-            ``name`` attribute to reference a value, although the ``name`` is
-            guaranteed unique.
-
-
-``Constant``
-    A constant value used as argument to a SpaceOperation, or as value to pass
-    across a Link to initialize an input Variable in the target Block.
-
-    :value:  the concrete value represented by this Constant.
-    :key:    a hashable object representing the value.
-
-    A Constant can occasionally store a mutable Python object.  It represents a
-    static, pre-initialized, read-only version of that object.  The flow graph
-    should not attempt to actually mutate such Constants.
-
-.. _document describing object spaces: objspace.html
+.. @Ronan: here
 
 
 .. _annotator:


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