Our put_be32() routine and its variants (get_be32(), put_be64(), etc)
has two implementations: on some platforms we cast memory in place and
use nothl()/htonl(), which can cause unaligned memory access. And on
others, we pick out the individual bytes using bitshifts.
This introduces extra complexity, and sometimes causes compilers to
generate warnings about type-punning. And it's not clear there's any
performance advantage.
This split goes back to 660231aa97 (block-sha1: support for
architectures with memory alignment restrictions, 2009-08-12). The
unaligned versions were part of the original block-sha1 code in
d7c208a92e (Add new optimized C 'block-sha1' routines, 2009-08-05),
which says it is:
Based on the mozilla SHA1 routine, but doing the input data accesses a
word at a time and with 'htonl()' instead of loading bytes and shifting.
Back then, Linus provided timings versus the mozilla code which showed a
27% improvement:
https://lore.kernel.org/git/alpine.LFD.2.01.0908051545000.3390@localhost.localdomain/
However, the unaligned loads were either not the useful part of that
speedup, or perhaps compilers and processors have changed since then.
Here are times for computing the sha1 of 4GB of random data, with and
without -DNO_UNALIGNED_LOADS (and BLK_SHA1=1, of course). This is with
gcc 10, -O2, and the processor is a Core i9-9880H.
[stock]
Benchmark #1
An error occurred
: t/helper/test-tool sha1 <foo.rand
Time (mean ± σ): 6.638 s ± 0.081 s [User: 6.269 s, System: 0.368 s]
Range (min … max): 6.550 s … 6.841 s 10 runs
[-DNO_UNALIGNED_LOADS]
Benchmark #1
An error occurred
: t/helper/test-tool sha1 <foo.rand
Time (mean ± σ): 6.418 s ± 0.015 s [User: 6.058 s, System: 0.360 s]
Range (min … max): 6.394 s … 6.447 s 10 runs
And here's the same test run on an AMD A8-7600, using gcc 8.
[stock]
Benchmark #1
An error occurred
: t/helper/test-tool sha1 <foo.rand
Time (mean ± σ): 11.721 s ± 0.113 s [User: 10.761 s, System: 0.951 s]
Range (min … max): 11.509 s … 11.861 s 10 runs
[-DNO_UNALIGNED_LOADS]
Benchmark #1
An error occurred
: t/helper/test-tool sha1 <foo.rand
Time (mean ± σ): 11.744 s ± 0.066 s [User: 10.807 s, System: 0.928 s]
Range (min … max): 11.637 s … 11.863 s 10 runs
So the unaligned loads don't seem to help much, and actually make things
worse. It's possible there are platforms where they provide more
benefit, but:
- the non-x86 platforms for which we use this code are old and obscure
(powerpc and s390).
- the main caller that cares about performance is block-sha1. But
these days it is rarely used anyway, in favor of sha1dc (which is
already much slower, and nobody seems to have cared that much).
Let's just drop unaligned versions entirely in the name of simplicity.
Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public
License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses,
compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus
Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/
including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-<commandname>.txt for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that
list the current status of various development topics to the mailing
list. The discussion following them give a good reference for
project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very
first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker"
and the name as (depending on your mood):
random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not
actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a
mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the
dictionary of slang.
"global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually
works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
"goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks
Jeff King
