Moving from VVT to the L-world value types (LWVT) (original) (raw)

Karen Kinnear karen.kinnear at oracle.com
Wed Jan 24 19:32:32 UTC 2018

Frederic,

Many thanks for the JVMS rough draft, chart of bytecodes and what checking they need and the mismatch chart. They are extremely helpful.

Questions/comments on the JVMS: http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~fparain/L-world/L-World-JVMS-2.pdf <http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~fparain/L-world/L-World-JVMS-2.pdf>

2.4 In the paragraph that describes null related to references: The null reference initially has no run-time type, but may be cast to any type (implies checkcast, instanceof will continue unchanged - which is our current proposal) The default value of a reference type is null. - Should that be the default value of an object class type is null?

Do we want to describe the default value of a value class type? Perhaps we can leave these changes for Dan.

4.1/ 4.5 From our discussion today, it sounds as though we can try Remi’s original/John’s proposal for just tracking knowledge of a value type in the class file at two places:

  1. when declaring a class, the class access_flags would add ACC_VALUE_TYPE
  2. when declaring a field, the field access_flags would add ACC_VALUE_TYPE (small note - can we use 0x100?)

4.1 There is a comment that it is invalid to have ACC_INTERFACE and ACC_VALUE_TYPE I believe it should also be invalid to have ACC_ABSTRACT and ACC_VALUE_TYPE

6 invoke special Where do we throw an exception if we have an method in a value class? Would that be verifier? Just in case they skip verification, might it be worth throwing an exception if the resolved method is an instance initialization method and the class is a value class - would that be an ICCE? or a NoSuchMethodError?

6 monitorenter Run-time Exception: “iff object ref” -> “if object ref” “monitor exit throws a IllegalMonitorStateException” -> “monitorenter” (and “an” before vowel Illegal…)

thanks, Karen

On Jan 24, 2018, at 11:42 AM, Frederic Parain <frederic.parain at oracle.com> wrote:

Updated chart after Valhalla’s VM Meeting: http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~fparain/L-world/ValueObjectMismatch-2.pdf Fred

On Jan 24, 2018, at 09:34, Frederic Parain <frederic.parain at oracle.com> wrote:

I’ve uploaded a quick summary of the potential issues that can be caused by a mismatch between the expected and the real nature of a class (object class or value class). http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~fparain/L-world/ValueObjectMismatch-1.pdf If some cases are missing or incorrect, please let me know. Fred

On Jan 23, 2018, at 19:05, Frederic Parain <frederic.parain at oracle.com> wrote: Updated JVMS document with a few fixes and the Q-descriptors removed (this removal changed only 3 lines!): http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~fparain/L-world/L-World-JVMS-2.pdf No attribute to list value classes has been added yet, so there’s currently some issues for the verification. Fred On Jan 23, 2018, at 16:25, Frederic Parain <frederic.parain at oracle.com> wrote:

Hi John, thank you for the detailed feedback. The Q-descriptor is not a fundamental part of the proposal, it is just an unsatisfying way for class files to express their expectations regarding types they think are value class types (to differentiate them from object class types). Q-descriptors provide this information but have drawbacks like the signature matching issue. Remi’s proposal is appealing because it avoids the signature matching issue. An attribute is not the most convenient data structure for the JVM, but we can record the information elsewhere in our meta-data. However, it seems more brittle because the attribute can easily omitted, unless we make it mandatory after a given class file format number, with a slightly different syntax where all classes named in the class files have to be listed, so it can be verified. For older class file format, the attribute would be absent and all classes are assumed to be object classes. We had two brainstorming sessions. yesterday and this morning, trying to figure out what would be the consequences of having only L-descriptors, with class files having different assumptions regarding the real nature of a type (object class or value class), either in the case of VBC migration or simply because of separate compilation. Some issues are related to the calling/returning conventions for the JIT compiled code. Some others issues are related to the class loader constraints, and the fact that a class with the wrong assumption regarding the nature of a class might prevent the real class from being loaded. The case where a class expects a Value Based Class (object class type) and the class is in fact a migrated value class seems to be OK. The case where a class expects a value class, but the class loader loads an object class seems much more problematic to us. Regarding the migration of value based classes, trying to prevent null references from leaking into migrated code seems to be a step to far. We reviewed the issue with Karen this morning, and it doesn’t seems too dangerous to only check for null when the reference is stored in a field or array expecting an instance of a value class. Thank you, Fred

On Jan 19, 2018, at 23:22, John Rose <john.r.rose at oracle.com> wrote: On Jan 16, 2018, at 12:56 PM, Frederic Parain <frederic.parain at oracle.com> wrote: Here’s an attempt to bootstrap the L-world exploration, where java.lang.Object is the top type of all value classes (as discussed during the November meetings in Burlington). This is excellent work, Frederic; thank you. I'm really hopeful that we are on the right track. ... Here’s a quick summary of the changes with some consequences on the HotSpot code: - all v-bytecodes are removed except vdefault and vwithfield At some point we may want to strip the v-prefix from those survivors. No hurry. - all bytecodes operating on an object receiver are updated to support values as well, except putfield and new Yep. - single carrier type for both instances of object classes and instances of value classes - this carrier type maps to the TOBJECT BasicType - TVALUETYPE still exists but its usage is limited (same purpose as TARRAY) TARRAY can be a confusing source of bugs. I've always wondered if it was worth it. - qtos TosState is removed - JNI: the jobject type can be used to carry either a reference to an object or an array or a value. The type jvaluetype, sub-type of jobject, is used when only a value class instance is expected - Q…; remains the way to encode value classes in signature (fields and methods) I'd like to move towards an ACCVALUE bit on both fields and classes. Again, no hurry, but (as in my previous message) I'd like to retire Q-descriptors. - In the constant pool, the CONSTANTCLASSinfo entry type is used to store a symbolic reference to either an object class or a value class - the ;Q escape sequence is not used anymore in value class names

One important point of this exercise is to ensure that the migration of Value Based Classes into Value Classes is possible, and doable with a reasonable complexity and costs. In addition to the JVMS update (and consistent with the JVMS modifications), here’s a set of proposals on how to deal with the VBC migration. I'm glad you are doing this analysis, not only because VBC migration is a wonderful goal, but also because I think the same analysis is necessary just to manage separate recompilation, even if we never decided to migrate a single class. In short, I see you are leaning hard on Q-descriptors, but I don't think you are getting enough value out of them, and they cause serious problems. More comments below… Migration of Value Based Classes into Value Classes: - challenges: - signature mismatch Goes away when/if we retire Q-descriptors! - null Can be dealt with by assuming non-null and throwing dynamic NPEs as needed where Q types are in play. Also, we tolerate "polluting nulls" along paths where the Q/R distinction is not available, even if (at some point later on) we realize that it was a Q all along. Eventually, the polluting null will cause an NPE. (In my view, the NPE should happen later than one might prefer if it were a true coding error rather than a recompilation artifact. Catching polluting nulls early in the presence of recompilation requires too many heroics.) - change in behavior Yes, that's the tricky part. - proposal for signature mismatch: - with LWVT, value class types in signatures are using the Q…; format - legacy code is using signature with L…; format (because VBC are object classes) - methods will have two signatures: - true signature, which could include Q…; elements - a L-ified signature where all Q…; elements are re-written with the L…; format - method lookup still works by signature string comparisons - the signature of the method being looked up will compared against both the true and the L-ified signatures, if the looked up signature matches the L-ified signature but not the true signature, it means a situation where legacy code is trying to invoke migrated code has been detected, and additional work might be required for the invocation (actions to be taken have to be defined) - signature mismatch can also occur for fields, this is still being investigating, the proposal will be updated as soon as we have a solution ready to be published This sort of thing is, for me, a rich argument against keeping Q-descriptors. - proposal for null references leaking to migrated code - having a null reference for a Value Based Class variable or field is valid in legacy code but it becomes invalid when the Value Based Class has been migrated to a Value Class - trying to prevent all references with a value class type to get a null value would be very expensive (it would require to look at the stackmap for each assignment to a local variable) Yes. We have to tolerate polluting nulls where the Q/R distinction is unavailable. - the proposed solution is to allow null references for local variable and expression stack slots, but forbid them for fields or array elements (bytecodes operating on fields and array have to be updated to throw a NPE whenever a null reference is provided instead of a value class instance) Yes, I think this is on the right track. On paths where a Q-type is needed we do a null check. That's the Java way. - null references are likely to be an issue for JIT optimizations like passing values in registers when a method is invoked. The proposed solution is to only allow null references for value classes in legacy code, by detecting them and blocking them when leaking to migrated code. The detection can be done at invocation time, when a mismatch between the signature expected by the caller and the real signature of the callee is detected (see signature mismatch proposal above) At some point, a polluting null might reach code that "knows" there is a Q type (and may even "know" that it goes in an xmm register). That's the point where an NPE should be thrown. In some cases, a deopt might be appropriate, to correctly order the NPE by executing interpreter code. Note that this combination of techniques does not Q-descriptors. The lack of Q-descriptors doesn't totally destroy the Q/R distinction; it just means you have to execute a little further before you get to code which "knows" that the null is illegal. - the null reference should also be detected and blocked when it is used as a return value and the type of the value to be returned is a value class type Doing this requires (a) Q-descriptors in method returns, (b) Remi's ValueTypes table, or (c) toleration of nulls in the interpreter. (The JIT doesn't have to tolerate nulls: It can deopt if it hits a surprise null, or perhaps throw an early NPE.) So, I am arguing for (c). In addition to the JVMS update, here’s a chart trying to summarize the new checks that will have to be added to existing bytecode when moving the vbytecodes semantic in to a* bytecodes. The categories in the chart are not very precise, but we can use it as a starting point for our discussions. The chart can also help defining which experiments could be done to estimate the costs of the different additional checks needed to be added to existing bytecodes. The chart is really helpful, thanks. More comments later. Onward! — John

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