[PATCH 0/5] aarch64: Remove aarch64_field_kind indirection

Project / Subsystem

binutils / aarch64

Date

2026-05-20

Proposer

Alice Carlotti <alice.carlotti@arm.com>

Source type

public_inbox

Consensus

Proposed

Sentiment

/10

Technical tradeoffs

  • Improved readability vs. potential loss of abstraction.
  • Potential performance gains vs. possible increased code complexity in the future.
  • Reduced code indirection vs. tighter coupling to `aarch64_field` structure.

All attributes

project
binutils
subsystem
aarch64
patch_id
discussion_id
b07af6ec-a74a-8c90-a2c7-38c03664b882@e124511.cambridge.arm.com
source_type
public_inbox
title
[PATCH 0/5] aarch64: Remove aarch64_field_kind indirection
headline
Aarch64: Remove aarch64_field_kind indirection
tldr
Removes the aarch64_field_kind enum and replaces it with direct use of aarch64_field structs, potentially improving readability and performance.
proposer
Alice Carlotti <alice.carlotti@arm.com>
consensus
Proposed
outcome
proposed
sentiment_score
technical_tradeoffs
  • Improved readability vs. potential loss of abstraction.
  • Potential performance gains vs. possible increased code complexity in the future.
  • Reduced code indirection vs. tighter coupling to `aarch64_field` structure.
series_id
binutils:aarch64: remove aarch64_field_kind indirection
series_role
cover
series_parts
  • {"title":"aarch64: Remove aarch64_field_kind indirection","url":"https://inbox.sourceware.org/binutils/01196ecb-956b-eb96-2ab2-e5de6fa143c5@e124511.cambridge.arm.com"}
tags
  • binutils
  • aarch64
  • enums
  • performance
  • readability
bugzilla_url
date
2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z

[PATCH 0/5] aarch64: Remove aarch64_field_kind indirection

This patch series removes the aarch64_field_kind enum in binutils, replacing it with direct uses of aarch64_field structs. The author believes this change improves code readability and may offer a marginal performance improvement. As an interim measure, some of the aarch64_field_kind enum names are retained as macros that expand to the corresponding aarch64_field value. The author seeks feedback on this approach before fully inlining the remaining uses.