Hi teor, > On 22 Mar 2015, at 14:41, teor <teor2345@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2015 05:12:03 +0100 >> From: Sebastian Hahn <sebastian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> >> To: tor-dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >> >> Hi there, >> >> we have some functions which we never call anywhere. In many cases, it >> appears we shouldn't delete them from the source because they "belong" >> there - the thing I initially stumbled across was >> ed25519_seckey_write_to_file(), for example. But I also don't see why >> compiling it and potentially including it in our binary makes any sense. >> >> Thoughts? >> >> Cheers >> Sebastian > > I'm think that removing / disabling unused code is a great idea, but I wonder what happens over the long term: > > [How] do we prevent bit-rot on the disabled code? > > Does the disabled code have unit tests? I meant code which doesn't have unit tests currently. > Should we add unit tests or keep them active to prevent bit-rot? > Or should any unit tests be disabled too? > > I wonder if we could unit test unused code, but not link it into the tor binary. > This would make sure it works if we ever want to use it in future, but without the risks and performance impacts of including unused code in the binary. > > There could be issues with this strategy that I haven't thought of. Like the added maintenance cost involved in keeping unused code and unit tests up-to-date. > > Perhaps we could: > * remove entirely if we're unlikely to ever use the code, > * disable if we want to keep it around for future reference, and > * unit test it, but not link it in to the tor binary, if we think we'll use it soon. > > Which category do most of the unused functions fall into? I don't know how much of this code there actually is, I would just do it as I spot such code, not as a big project to identify it all (tho looking at a call graph including unit tests should give you some idea). Cheers Sebastian
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