[BULK] Re: [LinuxBIOS] How to study the source code...?

[Eric W. Biederman]

Richard Smith <smithbone at gmail.com> writes:

>> 
>> You choose the worst file in the whole tree to start. You are not
>> supposed understand it unless you are Eric Biederman ;-)
>> 
>
> I disagree with the above.  When I was produceing the base files for
> the 440bx I looked at a lot of the different files in the tree and IMO
> the amd source code was some of the cleanist and well designed of all
> the files I looked at.  I found those files easyiest to follow and the
> most consistent in naming and in methodoloy.
>
> I think they are an excellent place to start.  The only thing the user
> should recognize is that those devices are somewhat complicated and
> that all the layers are a result of that.

amd8111.c in particular is a challenge because it operates at such a
high level of abstraction.

The hardest thing about learning the v2 tree is the code is written in
a reusable fashion that when you don't know how all of the pieces fit
make it a little hard to understand.  It isn't a simple a calls b
calls c.

Multiple levels of abstraction can be very useful, but until you learn
then it is easy to get lost.  At least I think that is what was
happening with amd8111.c


Eric