github.com/hlts2/go@v0.0.0-20170904000733-812b34efaed8/src/cmd/cgo/doc.go (about)

     1  // Copyright 2009 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
     2  // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
     3  // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
     4  
     5  /*
     6  
     7  Cgo enables the creation of Go packages that call C code.
     8  
     9  Using cgo with the go command
    10  
    11  To use cgo write normal Go code that imports a pseudo-package "C".
    12  The Go code can then refer to types such as C.size_t, variables such
    13  as C.stdout, or functions such as C.putchar.
    14  
    15  If the import of "C" is immediately preceded by a comment, that
    16  comment, called the preamble, is used as a header when compiling
    17  the C parts of the package. For example:
    18  
    19  	// #include <stdio.h>
    20  	// #include <errno.h>
    21  	import "C"
    22  
    23  The preamble may contain any C code, including function and variable
    24  declarations and definitions. These may then be referred to from Go
    25  code as though they were defined in the package "C". All names
    26  declared in the preamble may be used, even if they start with a
    27  lower-case letter. Exception: static variables in the preamble may
    28  not be referenced from Go code; static functions are permitted.
    29  
    30  See $GOROOT/misc/cgo/stdio and $GOROOT/misc/cgo/gmp for examples. See
    31  "C? Go? Cgo!" for an introduction to using cgo:
    32  https://golang.org/doc/articles/c_go_cgo.html.
    33  
    34  CFLAGS, CPPFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, FFLAGS and LDFLAGS may be defined with pseudo
    35  #cgo directives within these comments to tweak the behavior of the C, C++
    36  or Fortran compiler. Values defined in multiple directives are concatenated
    37  together. The directive can include a list of build constraints limiting its
    38  effect to systems satisfying one of the constraints
    39  (see https://golang.org/pkg/go/build/#hdr-Build_Constraints for details about the constraint syntax).
    40  For example:
    41  
    42  	// #cgo CFLAGS: -DPNG_DEBUG=1
    43  	// #cgo amd64 386 CFLAGS: -DX86=1
    44  	// #cgo LDFLAGS: -lpng
    45  	// #include <png.h>
    46  	import "C"
    47  
    48  Alternatively, CPPFLAGS and LDFLAGS may be obtained via the pkg-config
    49  tool using a '#cgo pkg-config:' directive followed by the package names.
    50  For example:
    51  
    52  	// #cgo pkg-config: png cairo
    53  	// #include <png.h>
    54  	import "C"
    55  
    56  The default pkg-config tool may be changed by setting the PKG_CONFIG environment variable.
    57  
    58  When building, the CGO_CFLAGS, CGO_CPPFLAGS, CGO_CXXFLAGS, CGO_FFLAGS and
    59  CGO_LDFLAGS environment variables are added to the flags derived from
    60  these directives. Package-specific flags should be set using the
    61  directives, not the environment variables, so that builds work in
    62  unmodified environments.
    63  
    64  All the cgo CPPFLAGS and CFLAGS directives in a package are concatenated and
    65  used to compile C files in that package. All the CPPFLAGS and CXXFLAGS
    66  directives in a package are concatenated and used to compile C++ files in that
    67  package. All the CPPFLAGS and FFLAGS directives in a package are concatenated
    68  and used to compile Fortran files in that package. All the LDFLAGS directives
    69  in any package in the program are concatenated and used at link time. All the
    70  pkg-config directives are concatenated and sent to pkg-config simultaneously
    71  to add to each appropriate set of command-line flags.
    72  
    73  When the cgo directives are parsed, any occurrence of the string ${SRCDIR}
    74  will be replaced by the absolute path to the directory containing the source
    75  file. This allows pre-compiled static libraries to be included in the package
    76  directory and linked properly.
    77  For example if package foo is in the directory /go/src/foo:
    78  
    79         // #cgo LDFLAGS: -L${SRCDIR}/libs -lfoo
    80  
    81  Will be expanded to:
    82  
    83         // #cgo LDFLAGS: -L/go/src/foo/libs -lfoo
    84  
    85  When the Go tool sees that one or more Go files use the special import
    86  "C", it will look for other non-Go files in the directory and compile
    87  them as part of the Go package. Any .c, .s, or .S files will be
    88  compiled with the C compiler. Any .cc, .cpp, or .cxx files will be
    89  compiled with the C++ compiler. Any .f, .F, .for or .f90 files will be
    90  compiled with the fortran compiler. Any .h, .hh, .hpp, or .hxx files will
    91  not be compiled separately, but, if these header files are changed,
    92  the C and C++ files will be recompiled. The default C and C++
    93  compilers may be changed by the CC and CXX environment variables,
    94  respectively; those environment variables may include command line
    95  options.
    96  
    97  The cgo tool is enabled by default for native builds on systems where
    98  it is expected to work. It is disabled by default when
    99  cross-compiling. You can control this by setting the CGO_ENABLED
   100  environment variable when running the go tool: set it to 1 to enable
   101  the use of cgo, and to 0 to disable it. The go tool will set the
   102  build constraint "cgo" if cgo is enabled.
   103  
   104  When cross-compiling, you must specify a C cross-compiler for cgo to
   105  use. You can do this by setting the CC_FOR_TARGET environment
   106  variable when building the toolchain using make.bash, or by setting
   107  the CC environment variable any time you run the go tool. The
   108  CXX_FOR_TARGET and CXX environment variables work in a similar way for
   109  C++ code.
   110  
   111  Go references to C
   112  
   113  Within the Go file, C's struct field names that are keywords in Go
   114  can be accessed by prefixing them with an underscore: if x points at a C
   115  struct with a field named "type", x._type accesses the field.
   116  C struct fields that cannot be expressed in Go, such as bit fields
   117  or misaligned data, are omitted in the Go struct, replaced by
   118  appropriate padding to reach the next field or the end of the struct.
   119  
   120  The standard C numeric types are available under the names
   121  C.char, C.schar (signed char), C.uchar (unsigned char),
   122  C.short, C.ushort (unsigned short), C.int, C.uint (unsigned int),
   123  C.long, C.ulong (unsigned long), C.longlong (long long),
   124  C.ulonglong (unsigned long long), C.float, C.double,
   125  C.complexfloat (complex float), and C.complexdouble (complex double).
   126  The C type void* is represented by Go's unsafe.Pointer.
   127  The C types __int128_t and __uint128_t are represented by [16]byte.
   128  
   129  To access a struct, union, or enum type directly, prefix it with
   130  struct_, union_, or enum_, as in C.struct_stat.
   131  
   132  The size of any C type T is available as C.sizeof_T, as in
   133  C.sizeof_struct_stat.
   134  
   135  As Go doesn't have support for C's union type in the general case,
   136  C's union types are represented as a Go byte array with the same length.
   137  
   138  Go structs cannot embed fields with C types.
   139  
   140  Go code cannot refer to zero-sized fields that occur at the end of
   141  non-empty C structs. To get the address of such a field (which is the
   142  only operation you can do with a zero-sized field) you must take the
   143  address of the struct and add the size of the struct.
   144  
   145  Cgo translates C types into equivalent unexported Go types.
   146  Because the translations are unexported, a Go package should not
   147  expose C types in its exported API: a C type used in one Go package
   148  is different from the same C type used in another.
   149  
   150  Any C function (even void functions) may be called in a multiple
   151  assignment context to retrieve both the return value (if any) and the
   152  C errno variable as an error (use _ to skip the result value if the
   153  function returns void). For example:
   154  
   155  	n, err = C.sqrt(-1)
   156  	_, err := C.voidFunc()
   157  	var n, err = C.sqrt(1)
   158  
   159  Calling C function pointers is currently not supported, however you can
   160  declare Go variables which hold C function pointers and pass them
   161  back and forth between Go and C. C code may call function pointers
   162  received from Go. For example:
   163  
   164  	package main
   165  
   166  	// typedef int (*intFunc) ();
   167  	//
   168  	// int
   169  	// bridge_int_func(intFunc f)
   170  	// {
   171  	//		return f();
   172  	// }
   173  	//
   174  	// int fortytwo()
   175  	// {
   176  	//	    return 42;
   177  	// }
   178  	import "C"
   179  	import "fmt"
   180  
   181  	func main() {
   182  		f := C.intFunc(C.fortytwo)
   183  		fmt.Println(int(C.bridge_int_func(f)))
   184  		// Output: 42
   185  	}
   186  
   187  In C, a function argument written as a fixed size array
   188  actually requires a pointer to the first element of the array.
   189  C compilers are aware of this calling convention and adjust
   190  the call accordingly, but Go cannot. In Go, you must pass
   191  the pointer to the first element explicitly: C.f(&C.x[0]).
   192  
   193  A few special functions convert between Go and C types
   194  by making copies of the data. In pseudo-Go definitions:
   195  
   196  	// Go string to C string
   197  	// The C string is allocated in the C heap using malloc.
   198  	// It is the caller's responsibility to arrange for it to be
   199  	// freed, such as by calling C.free (be sure to include stdlib.h
   200  	// if C.free is needed).
   201  	func C.CString(string) *C.char
   202  
   203  	// Go []byte slice to C array
   204  	// The C array is allocated in the C heap using malloc.
   205  	// It is the caller's responsibility to arrange for it to be
   206  	// freed, such as by calling C.free (be sure to include stdlib.h
   207  	// if C.free is needed).
   208  	func C.CBytes([]byte) unsafe.Pointer
   209  
   210  	// C string to Go string
   211  	func C.GoString(*C.char) string
   212  
   213  	// C data with explicit length to Go string
   214  	func C.GoStringN(*C.char, C.int) string
   215  
   216  	// C data with explicit length to Go []byte
   217  	func C.GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, C.int) []byte
   218  
   219  As a special case, C.malloc does not call the C library malloc directly
   220  but instead calls a Go helper function that wraps the C library malloc
   221  but guarantees never to return nil. If C's malloc indicates out of memory,
   222  the helper function crashes the program, like when Go itself runs out
   223  of memory. Because C.malloc cannot fail, it has no two-result form
   224  that returns errno.
   225  
   226  C references to Go
   227  
   228  Go functions can be exported for use by C code in the following way:
   229  
   230  	//export MyFunction
   231  	func MyFunction(arg1, arg2 int, arg3 string) int64 {...}
   232  
   233  	//export MyFunction2
   234  	func MyFunction2(arg1, arg2 int, arg3 string) (int64, *C.char) {...}
   235  
   236  They will be available in the C code as:
   237  
   238  	extern int64 MyFunction(int arg1, int arg2, GoString arg3);
   239  	extern struct MyFunction2_return MyFunction2(int arg1, int arg2, GoString arg3);
   240  
   241  found in the _cgo_export.h generated header, after any preambles
   242  copied from the cgo input files. Functions with multiple
   243  return values are mapped to functions returning a struct.
   244  
   245  Not all Go types can be mapped to C types in a useful way.
   246  Go struct types are not supported; use a C struct type.
   247  Go array types are not supported; use a C pointer.
   248  
   249  Using //export in a file places a restriction on the preamble:
   250  since it is copied into two different C output files, it must not
   251  contain any definitions, only declarations. If a file contains both
   252  definitions and declarations, then the two output files will produce
   253  duplicate symbols and the linker will fail. To avoid this, definitions
   254  must be placed in preambles in other files, or in C source files.
   255  
   256  Passing pointers
   257  
   258  Go is a garbage collected language, and the garbage collector needs to
   259  know the location of every pointer to Go memory. Because of this,
   260  there are restrictions on passing pointers between Go and C.
   261  
   262  In this section the term Go pointer means a pointer to memory
   263  allocated by Go (such as by using the & operator or calling the
   264  predefined new function) and the term C pointer means a pointer to
   265  memory allocated by C (such as by a call to C.malloc). Whether a
   266  pointer is a Go pointer or a C pointer is a dynamic property
   267  determined by how the memory was allocated; it has nothing to do with
   268  the type of the pointer.
   269  
   270  Go code may pass a Go pointer to C provided the Go memory to which it
   271  points does not contain any Go pointers. The C code must preserve
   272  this property: it must not store any Go pointers in Go memory, even
   273  temporarily. When passing a pointer to a field in a struct, the Go
   274  memory in question is the memory occupied by the field, not the entire
   275  struct. When passing a pointer to an element in an array or slice,
   276  the Go memory in question is the entire array or the entire backing
   277  array of the slice.
   278  
   279  C code may not keep a copy of a Go pointer after the call returns.
   280  
   281  A Go function called by C code may not return a Go pointer. A Go
   282  function called by C code may take C pointers as arguments, and it may
   283  store non-pointer or C pointer data through those pointers, but it may
   284  not store a Go pointer in memory pointed to by a C pointer. A Go
   285  function called by C code may take a Go pointer as an argument, but it
   286  must preserve the property that the Go memory to which it points does
   287  not contain any Go pointers.
   288  
   289  Go code may not store a Go pointer in C memory. C code may store Go
   290  pointers in C memory, subject to the rule above: it must stop storing
   291  the Go pointer when the C function returns.
   292  
   293  These rules are checked dynamically at runtime. The checking is
   294  controlled by the cgocheck setting of the GODEBUG environment
   295  variable. The default setting is GODEBUG=cgocheck=1, which implements
   296  reasonably cheap dynamic checks. These checks may be disabled
   297  entirely using GODEBUG=cgocheck=0. Complete checking of pointer
   298  handling, at some cost in run time, is available via GODEBUG=cgocheck=2.
   299  
   300  It is possible to defeat this enforcement by using the unsafe package,
   301  and of course there is nothing stopping the C code from doing anything
   302  it likes. However, programs that break these rules are likely to fail
   303  in unexpected and unpredictable ways.
   304  
   305  Using cgo directly
   306  
   307  Usage:
   308  	go tool cgo [cgo options] [-- compiler options] gofiles...
   309  
   310  Cgo transforms the specified input Go source files into several output
   311  Go and C source files.
   312  
   313  The compiler options are passed through uninterpreted when
   314  invoking the C compiler to compile the C parts of the package.
   315  
   316  The following options are available when running cgo directly:
   317  
   318  	-dynimport file
   319  		Write list of symbols imported by file. Write to
   320  		-dynout argument or to standard output. Used by go
   321  		build when building a cgo package.
   322  	-dynout file
   323  		Write -dynimport output to file.
   324  	-dynpackage package
   325  		Set Go package for -dynimport output.
   326  	-dynlinker
   327  		Write dynamic linker as part of -dynimport output.
   328  	-godefs
   329  		Write out input file in Go syntax replacing C package
   330  		names with real values. Used to generate files in the
   331  		syscall package when bootstrapping a new target.
   332  	-srcdir directory
   333  		Find the Go input files, listed on the command line,
   334  		in directory.
   335  	-objdir directory
   336  		Put all generated files in directory.
   337  	-importpath string
   338  		The import path for the Go package. Optional; used for
   339  		nicer comments in the generated files.
   340  	-exportheader file
   341  		If there are any exported functions, write the
   342  		generated export declarations to file.
   343  		C code can #include this to see the declarations.
   344  	-gccgo
   345  		Generate output for the gccgo compiler rather than the
   346  		gc compiler.
   347  	-gccgoprefix prefix
   348  		The -fgo-prefix option to be used with gccgo.
   349  	-gccgopkgpath path
   350  		The -fgo-pkgpath option to be used with gccgo.
   351  	-import_runtime_cgo
   352  		If set (which it is by default) import runtime/cgo in
   353  		generated output.
   354  	-import_syscall
   355  		If set (which it is by default) import syscall in
   356  		generated output.
   357  	-debug-define
   358  		Debugging option. Print #defines.
   359  	-debug-gcc
   360  		Debugging option. Trace C compiler execution and output.
   361  */
   362  package main
   363  
   364  /*
   365  Implementation details.
   366  
   367  Cgo provides a way for Go programs to call C code linked into the same
   368  address space. This comment explains the operation of cgo.
   369  
   370  Cgo reads a set of Go source files and looks for statements saying
   371  import "C". If the import has a doc comment, that comment is
   372  taken as literal C code to be used as a preamble to any C code
   373  generated by cgo. A typical preamble #includes necessary definitions:
   374  
   375  	// #include <stdio.h>
   376  	import "C"
   377  
   378  For more details about the usage of cgo, see the documentation
   379  comment at the top of this file.
   380  
   381  Understanding C
   382  
   383  Cgo scans the Go source files that import "C" for uses of that
   384  package, such as C.puts. It collects all such identifiers. The next
   385  step is to determine each kind of name. In C.xxx the xxx might refer
   386  to a type, a function, a constant, or a global variable. Cgo must
   387  decide which.
   388  
   389  The obvious thing for cgo to do is to process the preamble, expanding
   390  #includes and processing the corresponding C code. That would require
   391  a full C parser and type checker that was also aware of any extensions
   392  known to the system compiler (for example, all the GNU C extensions) as
   393  well as the system-specific header locations and system-specific
   394  pre-#defined macros. This is certainly possible to do, but it is an
   395  enormous amount of work.
   396  
   397  Cgo takes a different approach. It determines the meaning of C
   398  identifiers not by parsing C code but by feeding carefully constructed
   399  programs into the system C compiler and interpreting the generated
   400  error messages, debug information, and object files. In practice,
   401  parsing these is significantly less work and more robust than parsing
   402  C source.
   403  
   404  Cgo first invokes gcc -E -dM on the preamble, in order to find out
   405  about simple #defines for constants and the like. These are recorded
   406  for later use.
   407  
   408  Next, cgo needs to identify the kinds for each identifier. For the
   409  identifiers C.foo, cgo generates this C program:
   410  
   411  	<preamble>
   412  	#line 1 "not-declared"
   413  	void __cgo_f_1_1(void) { __typeof__(foo) *__cgo_undefined__1; }
   414  	#line 1 "not-type"
   415  	void __cgo_f_1_2(void) { foo *__cgo_undefined__2; }
   416  	#line 1 "not-int-const"
   417  	void __cgo_f_1_3(void) { enum { __cgo_undefined__3 = (foo)*1 }; }
   418  	#line 1 "not-num-const"
   419  	void __cgo_f_1_4(void) { static const double __cgo_undefined__4 = (foo); }
   420  	#line 1 "not-str-lit"
   421  	void __cgo_f_1_5(void) { static const char __cgo_undefined__5[] = (foo); }
   422  
   423  This program will not compile, but cgo can use the presence or absence
   424  of an error message on a given line to deduce the information it
   425  needs. The program is syntactically valid regardless of whether each
   426  name is a type or an ordinary identifier, so there will be no syntax
   427  errors that might stop parsing early.
   428  
   429  An error on not-declared:1 indicates that foo is undeclared.
   430  An error on not-type:1 indicates that foo is not a type (if declared at all, it is an identifier).
   431  An error on not-int-const:1 indicates that foo is not an integer constant.
   432  An error on not-num-const:1 indicates that foo is not a number constant.
   433  An error on not-str-lit:1 indicates that foo is not a string literal.
   434  An error on not-signed-int-const:1 indicates that foo is not a signed integer constant.
   435  
   436  The line number specifies the name involved. In the example, 1 is foo.
   437  
   438  Next, cgo must learn the details of each type, variable, function, or
   439  constant. It can do this by reading object files. If cgo has decided
   440  that t1 is a type, v2 and v3 are variables or functions, and i4, i5
   441  are integer constants, u6 is an unsigned integer constant, and f7 and f8
   442  are float constants, and s9 and s10 are string constants, it generates:
   443  
   444  	<preamble>
   445  	__typeof__(t1) *__cgo__1;
   446  	__typeof__(v2) *__cgo__2;
   447  	__typeof__(v3) *__cgo__3;
   448  	__typeof__(i4) *__cgo__4;
   449  	enum { __cgo_enum__4 = i4 };
   450  	__typeof__(i5) *__cgo__5;
   451  	enum { __cgo_enum__5 = i5 };
   452  	__typeof__(u6) *__cgo__6;
   453  	enum { __cgo_enum__6 = u6 };
   454  	__typeof__(f7) *__cgo__7;
   455  	__typeof__(f8) *__cgo__8;
   456  	__typeof__(s9) *__cgo__9;
   457  	__typeof__(s10) *__cgo__10;
   458  
   459  	long long __cgodebug_ints[] = {
   460  		0, // t1
   461  		0, // v2
   462  		0, // v3
   463  		i4,
   464  		i5,
   465  		u6,
   466  		0, // f7
   467  		0, // f8
   468  		0, // s9
   469  		0, // s10
   470  		1
   471  	};
   472  
   473  	double __cgodebug_floats[] = {
   474  		0, // t1
   475  		0, // v2
   476  		0, // v3
   477  		0, // i4
   478  		0, // i5
   479  		0, // u6
   480  		f7,
   481  		f8,
   482  		0, // s9
   483  		0, // s10
   484  		1
   485  	};
   486  
   487  	const char __cgodebug_str__9[] = s9;
   488  	const unsigned long long __cgodebug_strlen__9 = sizeof(s9)-1;
   489  	const char __cgodebug_str__10[] = s10;
   490  	const unsigned long long __cgodebug_strlen__10 = sizeof(s10)-1;
   491  
   492  and again invokes the system C compiler, to produce an object file
   493  containing debug information. Cgo parses the DWARF debug information
   494  for __cgo__N to learn the type of each identifier. (The types also
   495  distinguish functions from global variables.) Cgo reads the constant
   496  values from the __cgodebug_* from the object file's data segment.
   497  
   498  At this point cgo knows the meaning of each C.xxx well enough to start
   499  the translation process.
   500  
   501  Translating Go
   502  
   503  Given the input Go files x.go and y.go, cgo generates these source
   504  files:
   505  
   506  	x.cgo1.go       # for gc (cmd/compile)
   507  	y.cgo1.go       # for gc
   508  	_cgo_gotypes.go # for gc
   509  	_cgo_import.go  # for gc (if -dynout _cgo_import.go)
   510  	x.cgo2.c        # for gcc
   511  	y.cgo2.c        # for gcc
   512  	_cgo_defun.c    # for gcc (if -gccgo)
   513  	_cgo_export.c   # for gcc
   514  	_cgo_export.h   # for gcc
   515  	_cgo_main.c     # for gcc
   516  	_cgo_flags      # for alternative build tools
   517  
   518  The file x.cgo1.go is a copy of x.go with the import "C" removed and
   519  references to C.xxx replaced with names like _Cfunc_xxx or _Ctype_xxx.
   520  The definitions of those identifiers, written as Go functions, types,
   521  or variables, are provided in _cgo_gotypes.go.
   522  
   523  Here is a _cgo_gotypes.go containing definitions for needed C types:
   524  
   525  	type _Ctype_char int8
   526  	type _Ctype_int int32
   527  	type _Ctype_void [0]byte
   528  
   529  The _cgo_gotypes.go file also contains the definitions of the
   530  functions. They all have similar bodies that invoke runtime·cgocall
   531  to make a switch from the Go runtime world to the system C (GCC-based)
   532  world.
   533  
   534  For example, here is the definition of _Cfunc_puts:
   535  
   536  	//go:cgo_import_static _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts
   537  	//go:linkname __cgofn__cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts
   538  	var __cgofn__cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts byte
   539  	var _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts = unsafe.Pointer(&__cgofn__cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts)
   540  
   541  	func _Cfunc_puts(p0 *_Ctype_char) (r1 _Ctype_int) {
   542  		_cgo_runtime_cgocall(_cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts, uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&p0)))
   543  		return
   544  	}
   545  
   546  The hexadecimal number is a hash of cgo's input, chosen to be
   547  deterministic yet unlikely to collide with other uses. The actual
   548  function _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts is implemented in a C source
   549  file compiled by gcc, the file x.cgo2.c:
   550  
   551  	void
   552  	_cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts(void *v)
   553  	{
   554  		struct {
   555  			char* p0;
   556  			int r;
   557  			char __pad12[4];
   558  		} __attribute__((__packed__, __gcc_struct__)) *a = v;
   559  		a->r = puts((void*)a->p0);
   560  	}
   561  
   562  It extracts the arguments from the pointer to _Cfunc_puts's argument
   563  frame, invokes the system C function (in this case, puts), stores the
   564  result in the frame, and returns.
   565  
   566  Linking
   567  
   568  Once the _cgo_export.c and *.cgo2.c files have been compiled with gcc,
   569  they need to be linked into the final binary, along with the libraries
   570  they might depend on (in the case of puts, stdio). cmd/link has been
   571  extended to understand basic ELF files, but it does not understand ELF
   572  in the full complexity that modern C libraries embrace, so it cannot
   573  in general generate direct references to the system libraries.
   574  
   575  Instead, the build process generates an object file using dynamic
   576  linkage to the desired libraries. The main function is provided by
   577  _cgo_main.c:
   578  
   579  	int main() { return 0; }
   580  	void crosscall2(void(*fn)(void*, int, uintptr_t), void *a, int c, uintptr_t ctxt) { }
   581  	uintptr_t _cgo_wait_runtime_init_done() { return 0; }
   582  	void _cgo_release_context(uintptr_t ctxt) { }
   583  	char* _cgo_topofstack(void) { return (char*)0; }
   584  	void _cgo_allocate(void *a, int c) { }
   585  	void _cgo_panic(void *a, int c) { }
   586  	void _cgo_reginit(void) { }
   587  
   588  The extra functions here are stubs to satisfy the references in the C
   589  code generated for gcc. The build process links this stub, along with
   590  _cgo_export.c and *.cgo2.c, into a dynamic executable and then lets
   591  cgo examine the executable. Cgo records the list of shared library
   592  references and resolved names and writes them into a new file
   593  _cgo_import.go, which looks like:
   594  
   595  	//go:cgo_dynamic_linker "/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2"
   596  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts puts#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   597  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic __libc_start_main __libc_start_main#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   598  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic stdout stdout#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   599  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic fflush fflush#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   600  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic _ _ "libpthread.so.0"
   601  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic _ _ "libc.so.6"
   602  
   603  In the end, the compiled Go package, which will eventually be
   604  presented to cmd/link as part of a larger program, contains:
   605  
   606  	_go_.o        # gc-compiled object for _cgo_gotypes.go, _cgo_import.go, *.cgo1.go
   607  	_all.o        # gcc-compiled object for _cgo_export.c, *.cgo2.c
   608  
   609  The final program will be a dynamic executable, so that cmd/link can avoid
   610  needing to process arbitrary .o files. It only needs to process the .o
   611  files generated from C files that cgo writes, and those are much more
   612  limited in the ELF or other features that they use.
   613  
   614  In essence, the _cgo_import.o file includes the extra linking
   615  directives that cmd/link is not sophisticated enough to derive from _all.o
   616  on its own. Similarly, the _all.o uses dynamic references to real
   617  system object code because cmd/link is not sophisticated enough to process
   618  the real code.
   619  
   620  The main benefits of this system are that cmd/link remains relatively simple
   621  (it does not need to implement a complete ELF and Mach-O linker) and
   622  that gcc is not needed after the package is compiled. For example,
   623  package net uses cgo for access to name resolution functions provided
   624  by libc. Although gcc is needed to compile package net, gcc is not
   625  needed to link programs that import package net.
   626  
   627  Runtime
   628  
   629  When using cgo, Go must not assume that it owns all details of the
   630  process. In particular it needs to coordinate with C in the use of
   631  threads and thread-local storage. The runtime package declares a few
   632  variables:
   633  
   634  	var (
   635  		iscgo             bool
   636  		_cgo_init         unsafe.Pointer
   637  		_cgo_thread_start unsafe.Pointer
   638  	)
   639  
   640  Any package using cgo imports "runtime/cgo", which provides
   641  initializations for these variables. It sets iscgo to true, _cgo_init
   642  to a gcc-compiled function that can be called early during program
   643  startup, and _cgo_thread_start to a gcc-compiled function that can be
   644  used to create a new thread, in place of the runtime's usual direct
   645  system calls.
   646  
   647  Internal and External Linking
   648  
   649  The text above describes "internal" linking, in which cmd/link parses and
   650  links host object files (ELF, Mach-O, PE, and so on) into the final
   651  executable itself. Keeping cmd/link simple means we cannot possibly
   652  implement the full semantics of the host linker, so the kinds of
   653  objects that can be linked directly into the binary is limited (other
   654  code can only be used as a dynamic library). On the other hand, when
   655  using internal linking, cmd/link can generate Go binaries by itself.
   656  
   657  In order to allow linking arbitrary object files without requiring
   658  dynamic libraries, cgo supports an "external" linking mode too. In
   659  external linking mode, cmd/link does not process any host object files.
   660  Instead, it collects all the Go code and writes a single go.o object
   661  file containing it. Then it invokes the host linker (usually gcc) to
   662  combine the go.o object file and any supporting non-Go code into a
   663  final executable. External linking avoids the dynamic library
   664  requirement but introduces a requirement that the host linker be
   665  present to create such a binary.
   666  
   667  Most builds both compile source code and invoke the linker to create a
   668  binary. When cgo is involved, the compile step already requires gcc, so
   669  it is not problematic for the link step to require gcc too.
   670  
   671  An important exception is builds using a pre-compiled copy of the
   672  standard library. In particular, package net uses cgo on most systems,
   673  and we want to preserve the ability to compile pure Go code that
   674  imports net without requiring gcc to be present at link time. (In this
   675  case, the dynamic library requirement is less significant, because the
   676  only library involved is libc.so, which can usually be assumed
   677  present.)
   678  
   679  This conflict between functionality and the gcc requirement means we
   680  must support both internal and external linking, depending on the
   681  circumstances: if net is the only cgo-using package, then internal
   682  linking is probably fine, but if other packages are involved, so that there
   683  are dependencies on libraries beyond libc, external linking is likely
   684  to work better. The compilation of a package records the relevant
   685  information to support both linking modes, leaving the decision
   686  to be made when linking the final binary.
   687  
   688  Linking Directives
   689  
   690  In either linking mode, package-specific directives must be passed
   691  through to cmd/link. These are communicated by writing //go: directives in a
   692  Go source file compiled by gc. The directives are copied into the .o
   693  object file and then processed by the linker.
   694  
   695  The directives are:
   696  
   697  //go:cgo_import_dynamic <local> [<remote> ["<library>"]]
   698  
   699  	In internal linking mode, allow an unresolved reference to
   700  	<local>, assuming it will be resolved by a dynamic library
   701  	symbol. The optional <remote> specifies the symbol's name and
   702  	possibly version in the dynamic library, and the optional "<library>"
   703  	names the specific library where the symbol should be found.
   704  
   705  	In the <remote>, # or @ can be used to introduce a symbol version.
   706  
   707  	Examples:
   708  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts
   709  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts puts#GLIBC_2.2.5
   710  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts puts#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   711  
   712  	A side effect of the cgo_import_dynamic directive with a
   713  	library is to make the final binary depend on that dynamic
   714  	library. To get the dependency without importing any specific
   715  	symbols, use _ for local and remote.
   716  
   717  	Example:
   718  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic _ _ "libc.so.6"
   719  
   720  	For compatibility with current versions of SWIG,
   721  	#pragma dynimport is an alias for //go:cgo_import_dynamic.
   722  
   723  //go:cgo_dynamic_linker "<path>"
   724  
   725  	In internal linking mode, use "<path>" as the dynamic linker
   726  	in the final binary. This directive is only needed from one
   727  	package when constructing a binary; by convention it is
   728  	supplied by runtime/cgo.
   729  
   730  	Example:
   731  	//go:cgo_dynamic_linker "/lib/ld-linux.so.2"
   732  
   733  //go:cgo_export_dynamic <local> <remote>
   734  
   735  	In internal linking mode, put the Go symbol
   736  	named <local> into the program's exported symbol table as
   737  	<remote>, so that C code can refer to it by that name. This
   738  	mechanism makes it possible for C code to call back into Go or
   739  	to share Go's data.
   740  
   741  	For compatibility with current versions of SWIG,
   742  	#pragma dynexport is an alias for //go:cgo_export_dynamic.
   743  
   744  //go:cgo_import_static <local>
   745  
   746  	In external linking mode, allow unresolved references to
   747  	<local> in the go.o object file prepared for the host linker,
   748  	under the assumption that <local> will be supplied by the
   749  	other object files that will be linked with go.o.
   750  
   751  	Example:
   752  	//go:cgo_import_static puts_wrapper
   753  
   754  //go:cgo_export_static <local> <remote>
   755  
   756  	In external linking mode, put the Go symbol
   757  	named <local> into the program's exported symbol table as
   758  	<remote>, so that C code can refer to it by that name. This
   759  	mechanism makes it possible for C code to call back into Go or
   760  	to share Go's data.
   761  
   762  //go:cgo_ldflag "<arg>"
   763  
   764  	In external linking mode, invoke the host linker (usually gcc)
   765  	with "<arg>" as a command-line argument following the .o files.
   766  	Note that the arguments are for "gcc", not "ld".
   767  
   768  	Example:
   769  	//go:cgo_ldflag "-lpthread"
   770  	//go:cgo_ldflag "-L/usr/local/sqlite3/lib"
   771  
   772  A package compiled with cgo will include directives for both
   773  internal and external linking; the linker will select the appropriate
   774  subset for the chosen linking mode.
   775  
   776  Example
   777  
   778  As a simple example, consider a package that uses cgo to call C.sin.
   779  The following code will be generated by cgo:
   780  
   781  	// compiled by gc
   782  
   783  	//go:cgo_ldflag "-lm"
   784  
   785  	type _Ctype_double float64
   786  
   787  	//go:cgo_import_static _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin
   788  	//go:linkname __cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin
   789  	var __cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin byte
   790  	var _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin = unsafe.Pointer(&__cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin)
   791  
   792  	func _Cfunc_sin(p0 _Ctype_double) (r1 _Ctype_double) {
   793  		_cgo_runtime_cgocall(_cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin, uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&p0)))
   794  		return
   795  	}
   796  
   797  	// compiled by gcc, into foo.cgo2.o
   798  
   799  	void
   800  	_cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin(void *v)
   801  	{
   802  		struct {
   803  			double p0;
   804  			double r;
   805  		} __attribute__((__packed__)) *a = v;
   806  		a->r = sin(a->p0);
   807  	}
   808  
   809  What happens at link time depends on whether the final binary is linked
   810  using the internal or external mode. If other packages are compiled in
   811  "external only" mode, then the final link will be an external one.
   812  Otherwise the link will be an internal one.
   813  
   814  The linking directives are used according to the kind of final link
   815  used.
   816  
   817  In internal mode, cmd/link itself processes all the host object files, in
   818  particular foo.cgo2.o. To do so, it uses the cgo_import_dynamic and
   819  cgo_dynamic_linker directives to learn that the otherwise undefined
   820  reference to sin in foo.cgo2.o should be rewritten to refer to the
   821  symbol sin with version GLIBC_2.2.5 from the dynamic library
   822  "libm.so.6", and the binary should request "/lib/ld-linux.so.2" as its
   823  runtime dynamic linker.
   824  
   825  In external mode, cmd/link does not process any host object files, in
   826  particular foo.cgo2.o. It links together the gc-generated object
   827  files, along with any other Go code, into a go.o file. While doing
   828  that, cmd/link will discover that there is no definition for
   829  _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin, referred to by the gc-compiled source file. This
   830  is okay, because cmd/link also processes the cgo_import_static directive and
   831  knows that _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin is expected to be supplied by a host
   832  object file, so cmd/link does not treat the missing symbol as an error when
   833  creating go.o. Indeed, the definition for _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin will be
   834  provided to the host linker by foo2.cgo.o, which in turn will need the
   835  symbol 'sin'. cmd/link also processes the cgo_ldflag directives, so that it
   836  knows that the eventual host link command must include the -lm
   837  argument, so that the host linker will be able to find 'sin' in the
   838  math library.
   839  
   840  cmd/link Command Line Interface
   841  
   842  The go command and any other Go-aware build systems invoke cmd/link
   843  to link a collection of packages into a single binary. By default, cmd/link will
   844  present the same interface it does today:
   845  
   846  	cmd/link main.a
   847  
   848  produces a file named a.out, even if cmd/link does so by invoking the host
   849  linker in external linking mode.
   850  
   851  By default, cmd/link will decide the linking mode as follows: if the only
   852  packages using cgo are those on a whitelist of standard library
   853  packages (net, os/user, runtime/cgo), cmd/link will use internal linking
   854  mode. Otherwise, there are non-standard cgo packages involved, and cmd/link
   855  will use external linking mode. The first rule means that a build of
   856  the godoc binary, which uses net but no other cgo, can run without
   857  needing gcc available. The second rule means that a build of a
   858  cgo-wrapped library like sqlite3 can generate a standalone executable
   859  instead of needing to refer to a dynamic library. The specific choice
   860  can be overridden using a command line flag: cmd/link -linkmode=internal or
   861  cmd/link -linkmode=external.
   862  
   863  In an external link, cmd/link will create a temporary directory, write any
   864  host object files found in package archives to that directory (renamed
   865  to avoid conflicts), write the go.o file to that directory, and invoke
   866  the host linker. The default value for the host linker is $CC, split
   867  into fields, or else "gcc". The specific host linker command line can
   868  be overridden using command line flags: cmd/link -extld=clang
   869  -extldflags='-ggdb -O3'. If any package in a build includes a .cc or
   870  other file compiled by the C++ compiler, the go tool will use the
   871  -extld option to set the host linker to the C++ compiler.
   872  
   873  These defaults mean that Go-aware build systems can ignore the linking
   874  changes and keep running plain 'cmd/link' and get reasonable results, but
   875  they can also control the linking details if desired.
   876  
   877  */