[PATCH 0/3] common: Remove a few more header files

[Simon Glass]

Hi Tom,

On Mon, 25 Sept 2023 at 08:08, Tom Rini <trini at konsulko.com> wrote:
>
> On Sun, Sep 24, 2023 at 08:39:49PM -0600, Simon Glass wrote:
>
> > This series removes two more header files from the common.h header. It
> > also tidies up code style for time.h functions, to simplify similar
> > maintenance in future.
> >
> >
> > Simon Glass (3):
> >   Fix code style for time functions
> >   common: Drop time.h from common header
> >   common: Drop linux/string.h from common header
> [snip]
> >  1709 files changed, 1854 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)
>
> This is where I start to get worried we're possibly taking the wrong
> approach to the problem.  Perhaps it would be better to:
> 1. Start finding headers which include <common.h>, remove and fixup the
> breakage directly.
> 2. Move on to removing <common.h> from files, a directory at a time.
>

The bigger question is whether you want common.h gone or not?

I shared my script with you so you can see what it is doing. But if a
board uses memcmp(), for example, then it needs linux/string.h
included. We can discuss why so many files use string functions, or
whether the script is not perfect, but ultimately that is the
question.

Just these simple queries give you a sense of the scale:

 git grep -l strcat |wc
     45      45    1134
git grep -l memcpy |wc
    834     834   21643

If you are suggesting that we add fewer includes for now, relying on
transitive includes in header files, then I don't think that is very
useful in the end. I had a series a few years back which removed
common.h entirely and it foundered on this same issue.

Regards,
Simon