[wdmaudiodev] Re: To C++ or not to C++
- From: Larry Osterman <Larry.Osterman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 01:34:09 +0000
The set of C++ constructs that don't work from kernel mode is significantly
larger than the set of C++ constructs that *do* work. All sorts of constructs
can cause issues for kernel code.
As the article says: "The use of the C++ compiler as a "super-C" is typically
expected to work, but such use of the compiler is at the developers own risk".
If you don't take advantage of any of the challenging language features of C++
(including but not limited to: templates, the standard runtime library,
operator overloading, and exceptions), then you have a decent chance of being
able to successfully write a driver in C++. The only way to really ensure
that things work is to manually inspect the code generated by the compiler to
make sure that illegal constructs aren't accidentally being pulled in.
If you write your driver in C, you're almost guaranteed to be able to build a
driver that works because there are very few C constructs that aren't supported
in the driver.
Larry
From: wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Girish Pattabiraman
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 5:08 PM
To: wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [wdmaudiodev] To C++ or not to C++
MSDN has this article about risks of using C++ in drivers -
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg487420.aspx
But PortCls drivers, especially audio drivers are C++ by default.
Why have they taken such a cowardly approach in the article?
Either they should declare explicitly that C++ is not allowed, or they should
provide full support for C++.
I don't like the words "might", "maybe", etc. in documentation. Computer
science is an exact science in which everything should be clearly defined.
The author mentions reading the output of the compiler (assembly) carefully, is
he really being serious about it??
Does he really expect us to go through assembly output of the compiler?
I'm not super-human and cannot (infact refuse) to go through compiler generated
assembly of everything I have written.
Has anyone ever encountered a crash due to using C++ in WDM drivers?
Regards,
Girish
--
"Motive of LIFE: It is not death that I wish to avoid but life which I wish to
live." - Ayn Rand
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