github.com/huandu/go@v0.0.0-20151114150818-04e615e41150/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 and LDFLAGS may be defined with pseudo #cgo
    35  directives within these comments to tweak the behavior of the C or C++
    36  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  When building, the CGO_CFLAGS, CGO_CPPFLAGS, CGO_CXXFLAGS and
    57  CGO_LDFLAGS environment variables are added to the flags derived from
    58  these directives.  Package-specific flags should be set using the
    59  directives, not the environment variables, so that builds work in
    60  unmodified environments.
    61  
    62  All the cgo CPPFLAGS and CFLAGS directives in a package are concatenated and
    63  used to compile C files in that package.  All the CPPFLAGS and CXXFLAGS
    64  directives in a package are concatenated and used to compile C++ files in that
    65  package.  All the LDFLAGS directives in any package in the program are
    66  concatenated and used at link time.  All the pkg-config directives are
    67  concatenated and sent to pkg-config simultaneously to add to each appropriate
    68  set of command-line flags.
    69  
    70  When the cgo directives are parsed, any occurrence of the string ${SRCDIR}
    71  will be replaced by the absolute path to the directory containing the source
    72  file. This allows pre-compiled static libraries to be included in the package
    73  directory and linked properly.
    74  For example if package foo is in the directory /go/src/foo:
    75  
    76         // #cgo LDFLAGS: -L${SRCDIR}/libs -lfoo
    77  
    78  Will be expanded to:
    79  
    80         // #cgo LDFLAGS: -L/go/src/foo/libs -lfoo
    81  
    82  When the Go tool sees that one or more Go files use the special import
    83  "C", it will look for other non-Go files in the directory and compile
    84  them as part of the Go package.  Any .c, .s, or .S files will be
    85  compiled with the C compiler.  Any .cc, .cpp, or .cxx files will be
    86  compiled with the C++ compiler.  Any .h, .hh, .hpp, or .hxx files will
    87  not be compiled separately, but, if these header files are changed,
    88  the C and C++ files will be recompiled.  The default C and C++
    89  compilers may be changed by the CC and CXX environment variables,
    90  respectively; those environment variables may include command line
    91  options.
    92  
    93  The cgo tool is enabled by default for native builds on systems where
    94  it is expected to work.  It is disabled by default when
    95  cross-compiling.  You can control this by setting the CGO_ENABLED
    96  environment variable when running the go tool: set it to 1 to enable
    97  the use of cgo, and to 0 to disable it.  The go tool will set the
    98  build constraint "cgo" if cgo is enabled.
    99  
   100  When cross-compiling, you must specify a C cross-compiler for cgo to
   101  use.  You can do this by setting the CC_FOR_TARGET environment
   102  variable when building the toolchain using make.bash, or by setting
   103  the CC environment variable any time you run the go tool.  The
   104  CXX_FOR_TARGET and CXX environment variables work in a similar way for
   105  C++ code.
   106  
   107  Go references to C
   108  
   109  Within the Go file, C's struct field names that are keywords in Go
   110  can be accessed by prefixing them with an underscore: if x points at a C
   111  struct with a field named "type", x._type accesses the field.
   112  C struct fields that cannot be expressed in Go, such as bit fields
   113  or misaligned data, are omitted in the Go struct, replaced by
   114  appropriate padding to reach the next field or the end of the struct.
   115  
   116  The standard C numeric types are available under the names
   117  C.char, C.schar (signed char), C.uchar (unsigned char),
   118  C.short, C.ushort (unsigned short), C.int, C.uint (unsigned int),
   119  C.long, C.ulong (unsigned long), C.longlong (long long),
   120  C.ulonglong (unsigned long long), C.float, C.double.
   121  The C type void* is represented by Go's unsafe.Pointer.
   122  
   123  To access a struct, union, or enum type directly, prefix it with
   124  struct_, union_, or enum_, as in C.struct_stat.
   125  
   126  As Go doesn't have support for C's union type in the general case,
   127  C's union types are represented as a Go byte array with the same length.
   128  
   129  Go structs cannot embed fields with C types.
   130  
   131  Cgo translates C types into equivalent unexported Go types.
   132  Because the translations are unexported, a Go package should not
   133  expose C types in its exported API: a C type used in one Go package
   134  is different from the same C type used in another.
   135  
   136  Any C function (even void functions) may be called in a multiple
   137  assignment context to retrieve both the return value (if any) and the
   138  C errno variable as an error (use _ to skip the result value if the
   139  function returns void).  For example:
   140  
   141  	n, err := C.sqrt(-1)
   142  	_, err := C.voidFunc()
   143  
   144  Calling C function pointers is currently not supported, however you can
   145  declare Go variables which hold C function pointers and pass them
   146  back and forth between Go and C. C code may call function pointers
   147  received from Go. For example:
   148  
   149  	package main
   150  
   151  	// typedef int (*intFunc) ();
   152  	//
   153  	// int
   154  	// bridge_int_func(intFunc f)
   155  	// {
   156  	//		return f();
   157  	// }
   158  	//
   159  	// int fortytwo()
   160  	// {
   161  	//	    return 42;
   162  	// }
   163  	import "C"
   164  	import "fmt"
   165  
   166  	func main() {
   167  		f := C.intFunc(C.fortytwo)
   168  		fmt.Println(int(C.bridge_int_func(f)))
   169  		// Output: 42
   170  	}
   171  
   172  In C, a function argument written as a fixed size array
   173  actually requires a pointer to the first element of the array.
   174  C compilers are aware of this calling convention and adjust
   175  the call accordingly, but Go cannot.  In Go, you must pass
   176  the pointer to the first element explicitly: C.f(&C.x[0]).
   177  
   178  A few special functions convert between Go and C types
   179  by making copies of the data.  In pseudo-Go definitions:
   180  
   181  	// Go string to C string
   182  	// The C string is allocated in the C heap using malloc.
   183  	// It is the caller's responsibility to arrange for it to be
   184  	// freed, such as by calling C.free (be sure to include stdlib.h
   185  	// if C.free is needed).
   186  	func C.CString(string) *C.char
   187  
   188  	// C string to Go string
   189  	func C.GoString(*C.char) string
   190  
   191  	// C string, length to Go string
   192  	func C.GoStringN(*C.char, C.int) string
   193  
   194  	// C pointer, length to Go []byte
   195  	func C.GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, C.int) []byte
   196  
   197  C references to Go
   198  
   199  Go functions can be exported for use by C code in the following way:
   200  
   201  	//export MyFunction
   202  	func MyFunction(arg1, arg2 int, arg3 string) int64 {...}
   203  
   204  	//export MyFunction2
   205  	func MyFunction2(arg1, arg2 int, arg3 string) (int64, *C.char) {...}
   206  
   207  They will be available in the C code as:
   208  
   209  	extern int64 MyFunction(int arg1, int arg2, GoString arg3);
   210  	extern struct MyFunction2_return MyFunction2(int arg1, int arg2, GoString arg3);
   211  
   212  found in the _cgo_export.h generated header, after any preambles
   213  copied from the cgo input files. Functions with multiple
   214  return values are mapped to functions returning a struct.
   215  Not all Go types can be mapped to C types in a useful way.
   216  
   217  Using //export in a file places a restriction on the preamble:
   218  since it is copied into two different C output files, it must not
   219  contain any definitions, only declarations. If a file contains both
   220  definitions and declarations, then the two output files will produce
   221  duplicate symbols and the linker will fail. To avoid this, definitions
   222  must be placed in preambles in other files, or in C source files.
   223  
   224  Using cgo directly
   225  
   226  Usage:
   227  	go tool cgo [cgo options] [-- compiler options] gofiles...
   228  
   229  Cgo transforms the specified input Go source files into several output
   230  Go and C source files.
   231  
   232  The compiler options are passed through uninterpreted when
   233  invoking the C compiler to compile the C parts of the package.
   234  
   235  The following options are available when running cgo directly:
   236  
   237  	-dynimport file
   238  		Write list of symbols imported by file. Write to
   239  		-dynout argument or to standard output. Used by go
   240  		build when building a cgo package.
   241  	-dynout file
   242  		Write -dynimport output to file.
   243  	-dynpackage package
   244  		Set Go package for -dynimport output.
   245  	-dynlinker
   246  		Write dynamic linker as part of -dynimport output.
   247  	-godefs
   248  		Write out input file in Go syntax replacing C package
   249  		names with real values. Used to generate files in the
   250  		syscall package when bootstrapping a new target.
   251  	-objdir directory
   252  		Put all generated files in directory.
   253  	-importpath string
   254  		The import path for the Go package. Optional; used for
   255  		nicer comments in the generated files.
   256  	-exportheader file
   257  		If there are any exported functions, write the
   258  		generated export declarations to file.
   259  		C code can #include this to see the declarations.
   260  	-gccgo
   261  		Generate output for the gccgo compiler rather than the
   262  		gc compiler.
   263  	-gccgoprefix prefix
   264  		The -fgo-prefix option to be used with gccgo.
   265  	-gccgopkgpath path
   266  		The -fgo-pkgpath option to be used with gccgo.
   267  	-import_runtime_cgo
   268  		If set (which it is by default) import runtime/cgo in
   269  		generated output.
   270  	-import_syscall
   271  		If set (which it is by default) import syscall in
   272  		generated output.
   273  	-debug-define
   274  		Debugging option. Print #defines.
   275  	-debug-gcc
   276  		Debugging option. Trace C compiler execution and output.
   277  */
   278  package main
   279  
   280  /*
   281  Implementation details.
   282  
   283  Cgo provides a way for Go programs to call C code linked into the same
   284  address space. This comment explains the operation of cgo.
   285  
   286  Cgo reads a set of Go source files and looks for statements saying
   287  import "C". If the import has a doc comment, that comment is
   288  taken as literal C code to be used as a preamble to any C code
   289  generated by cgo. A typical preamble #includes necessary definitions:
   290  
   291  	// #include <stdio.h>
   292  	import "C"
   293  
   294  For more details about the usage of cgo, see the documentation
   295  comment at the top of this file.
   296  
   297  Understanding C
   298  
   299  Cgo scans the Go source files that import "C" for uses of that
   300  package, such as C.puts. It collects all such identifiers. The next
   301  step is to determine each kind of name. In C.xxx the xxx might refer
   302  to a type, a function, a constant, or a global variable. Cgo must
   303  decide which.
   304  
   305  The obvious thing for cgo to do is to process the preamble, expanding
   306  #includes and processing the corresponding C code. That would require
   307  a full C parser and type checker that was also aware of any extensions
   308  known to the system compiler (for example, all the GNU C extensions) as
   309  well as the system-specific header locations and system-specific
   310  pre-#defined macros. This is certainly possible to do, but it is an
   311  enormous amount of work.
   312  
   313  Cgo takes a different approach. It determines the meaning of C
   314  identifiers not by parsing C code but by feeding carefully constructed
   315  programs into the system C compiler and interpreting the generated
   316  error messages, debug information, and object files. In practice,
   317  parsing these is significantly less work and more robust than parsing
   318  C source.
   319  
   320  Cgo first invokes gcc -E -dM on the preamble, in order to find out
   321  about simple #defines for constants and the like. These are recorded
   322  for later use.
   323  
   324  Next, cgo needs to identify the kinds for each identifier. For the
   325  identifiers C.foo and C.bar, cgo generates this C program:
   326  
   327  	<preamble>
   328  	#line 1 "not-declared"
   329  	void __cgo_f_xxx_1(void) { __typeof__(foo) *__cgo_undefined__; }
   330  	#line 1 "not-type"
   331  	void __cgo_f_xxx_2(void) { foo *__cgo_undefined__; }
   332  	#line 1 "not-const"
   333  	void __cgo_f_xxx_3(void) { enum { __cgo_undefined__ = (foo)*1 }; }
   334  	#line 2 "not-declared"
   335  	void __cgo_f_xxx_1(void) { __typeof__(bar) *__cgo_undefined__; }
   336  	#line 2 "not-type"
   337  	void __cgo_f_xxx_2(void) { bar *__cgo_undefined__; }
   338  	#line 2 "not-const"
   339  	void __cgo_f_xxx_3(void) { enum { __cgo_undefined__ = (bar)*1 }; }
   340  
   341  This program will not compile, but cgo can use the presence or absence
   342  of an error message on a given line to deduce the information it
   343  needs. The program is syntactically valid regardless of whether each
   344  name is a type or an ordinary identifier, so there will be no syntax
   345  errors that might stop parsing early.
   346  
   347  An error on not-declared:1 indicates that foo is undeclared.
   348  An error on not-type:1 indicates that foo is not a type (if declared at all, it is an identifier).
   349  An error on not-const:1 indicates that foo is not an integer constant.
   350  
   351  The line number specifies the name involved. In the example, 1 is foo and 2 is bar.
   352  
   353  Next, cgo must learn the details of each type, variable, function, or
   354  constant. It can do this by reading object files. If cgo has decided
   355  that t1 is a type, v2 and v3 are variables or functions, and c4, c5,
   356  and c6 are constants, it generates:
   357  
   358  	<preamble>
   359  	__typeof__(t1) *__cgo__1;
   360  	__typeof__(v2) *__cgo__2;
   361  	__typeof__(v3) *__cgo__3;
   362  	__typeof__(c4) *__cgo__4;
   363  	enum { __cgo_enum__4 = c4 };
   364  	__typeof__(c5) *__cgo__5;
   365  	enum { __cgo_enum__5 = c5 };
   366  	__typeof__(c6) *__cgo__6;
   367  	enum { __cgo_enum__6 = c6 };
   368  
   369  	long long __cgo_debug_data[] = {
   370  		0, // t1
   371  		0, // v2
   372  		0, // v3
   373  		c4,
   374  		c5,
   375  		c6,
   376  		1
   377  	};
   378  
   379  and again invokes the system C compiler, to produce an object file
   380  containing debug information. Cgo parses the DWARF debug information
   381  for __cgo__N to learn the type of each identifier. (The types also
   382  distinguish functions from global variables.) If using a standard gcc,
   383  cgo can parse the DWARF debug information for the __cgo_enum__N to
   384  learn the identifier's value. The LLVM-based gcc on OS X emits
   385  incomplete DWARF information for enums; in that case cgo reads the
   386  constant values from the __cgo_debug_data from the object file's data
   387  segment.
   388  
   389  At this point cgo knows the meaning of each C.xxx well enough to start
   390  the translation process.
   391  
   392  Translating Go
   393  
   394  [The rest of this comment refers to 6g, the Go compiler that is part
   395  of the amd64 port of the gc Go toolchain. Everything here applies to
   396  another architecture's compilers as well.]
   397  
   398  Given the input Go files x.go and y.go, cgo generates these source
   399  files:
   400  
   401  	x.cgo1.go       # for 6g
   402  	y.cgo1.go       # for 6g
   403  	_cgo_gotypes.go # for 6g
   404  	_cgo_import.go  # for 6g (if -dynout _cgo_import.go)
   405  	x.cgo2.c        # for gcc
   406  	y.cgo2.c        # for gcc
   407  	_cgo_defun.c    # for gcc (if -gccgo)
   408  	_cgo_export.c   # for gcc
   409  	_cgo_export.h   # for gcc
   410  	_cgo_main.c     # for gcc
   411  	_cgo_flags      # for alternative build tools
   412  
   413  The file x.cgo1.go is a copy of x.go with the import "C" removed and
   414  references to C.xxx replaced with names like _Cfunc_xxx or _Ctype_xxx.
   415  The definitions of those identifiers, written as Go functions, types,
   416  or variables, are provided in _cgo_gotypes.go.
   417  
   418  Here is a _cgo_gotypes.go containing definitions for needed C types:
   419  
   420  	type _Ctype_char int8
   421  	type _Ctype_int int32
   422  	type _Ctype_void [0]byte
   423  
   424  The _cgo_gotypes.go file also contains the definitions of the
   425  functions.  They all have similar bodies that invoke runtime·cgocall
   426  to make a switch from the Go runtime world to the system C (GCC-based)
   427  world.
   428  
   429  For example, here is the definition of _Cfunc_puts:
   430  
   431  	//go:cgo_import_static _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts
   432  	//go:linkname __cgofn__cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts
   433  	var __cgofn__cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts byte
   434  	var _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts = unsafe.Pointer(&__cgofn__cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts)
   435  
   436  	func _Cfunc_puts(p0 *_Ctype_char) (r1 _Ctype_int) {
   437  		_cgo_runtime_cgocall(_cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts, uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&p0)))
   438  		return
   439  	}
   440  
   441  The hexadecimal number is a hash of cgo's input, chosen to be
   442  deterministic yet unlikely to collide with other uses. The actual
   443  function _cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts is implemented in a C source
   444  file compiled by gcc, the file x.cgo2.c:
   445  
   446  	void
   447  	_cgo_be59f0f25121_Cfunc_puts(void *v)
   448  	{
   449  		_cgo_wait_runtime_init_done();
   450  		struct {
   451  			char* p0;
   452  			int r;
   453  			char __pad12[4];
   454  		} __attribute__((__packed__, __gcc_struct__)) *a = v;
   455  		a->r = puts((void*)a->p0);
   456  	}
   457  
   458  It waits for Go runtime to be initialized (required for shared libraries),
   459  extracts the arguments from the pointer to _Cfunc_puts's argument
   460  frame, invokes the system C function (in this case, puts), stores the
   461  result in the frame, and returns.
   462  
   463  Linking
   464  
   465  Once the _cgo_export.c and *.cgo2.c files have been compiled with gcc,
   466  they need to be linked into the final binary, along with the libraries
   467  they might depend on (in the case of puts, stdio). 6l has been
   468  extended to understand basic ELF files, but it does not understand ELF
   469  in the full complexity that modern C libraries embrace, so it cannot
   470  in general generate direct references to the system libraries.
   471  
   472  Instead, the build process generates an object file using dynamic
   473  linkage to the desired libraries. The main function is provided by
   474  _cgo_main.c:
   475  
   476  	int main() { return 0; }
   477  	void crosscall2(void(*fn)(void*, int), void *a, int c) { }
   478  	void _cgo_wait_runtime_init_done() { }
   479  	void _cgo_allocate(void *a, int c) { }
   480  	void _cgo_panic(void *a, int c) { }
   481  
   482  The extra functions here are stubs to satisfy the references in the C
   483  code generated for gcc. The build process links this stub, along with
   484  _cgo_export.c and *.cgo2.c, into a dynamic executable and then lets
   485  cgo examine the executable. Cgo records the list of shared library
   486  references and resolved names and writes them into a new file
   487  _cgo_import.go, which looks like:
   488  
   489  	//go:cgo_dynamic_linker "/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2"
   490  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts puts#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   491  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic __libc_start_main __libc_start_main#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   492  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic stdout stdout#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   493  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic fflush fflush#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   494  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic _ _ "libpthread.so.0"
   495  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic _ _ "libc.so.6"
   496  
   497  In the end, the compiled Go package, which will eventually be
   498  presented to 6l as part of a larger program, contains:
   499  
   500  	_go_.6        # 6g-compiled object for _cgo_gotypes.go, _cgo_import.go, *.cgo1.go
   501  	_all.o        # gcc-compiled object for _cgo_export.c, *.cgo2.c
   502  
   503  The final program will be a dynamic executable, so that 6l can avoid
   504  needing to process arbitrary .o files. It only needs to process the .o
   505  files generated from C files that cgo writes, and those are much more
   506  limited in the ELF or other features that they use.
   507  
   508  In essence, the _cgo_import.6 file includes the extra linking
   509  directives that 6l is not sophisticated enough to derive from _all.o
   510  on its own. Similarly, the _all.o uses dynamic references to real
   511  system object code because 6l is not sophisticated enough to process
   512  the real code.
   513  
   514  The main benefits of this system are that 6l remains relatively simple
   515  (it does not need to implement a complete ELF and Mach-O linker) and
   516  that gcc is not needed after the package is compiled. For example,
   517  package net uses cgo for access to name resolution functions provided
   518  by libc. Although gcc is needed to compile package net, gcc is not
   519  needed to link programs that import package net.
   520  
   521  Runtime
   522  
   523  When using cgo, Go must not assume that it owns all details of the
   524  process. In particular it needs to coordinate with C in the use of
   525  threads and thread-local storage. The runtime package declares a few
   526  variables:
   527  
   528  	var (
   529  		iscgo             bool
   530  		_cgo_init         unsafe.Pointer
   531  		_cgo_thread_start unsafe.Pointer
   532  	)
   533  
   534  Any package using cgo imports "runtime/cgo", which provides
   535  initializations for these variables. It sets iscgo to true, _cgo_init
   536  to a gcc-compiled function that can be called early during program
   537  startup, and _cgo_thread_start to a gcc-compiled function that can be
   538  used to create a new thread, in place of the runtime's usual direct
   539  system calls.
   540  
   541  Internal and External Linking
   542  
   543  The text above describes "internal" linking, in which 6l parses and
   544  links host object files (ELF, Mach-O, PE, and so on) into the final
   545  executable itself. Keeping 6l simple means we cannot possibly
   546  implement the full semantics of the host linker, so the kinds of
   547  objects that can be linked directly into the binary is limited (other
   548  code can only be used as a dynamic library). On the other hand, when
   549  using internal linking, 6l can generate Go binaries by itself.
   550  
   551  In order to allow linking arbitrary object files without requiring
   552  dynamic libraries, cgo supports an "external" linking mode too. In
   553  external linking mode, 6l does not process any host object files.
   554  Instead, it collects all the Go code and writes a single go.o object
   555  file containing it. Then it invokes the host linker (usually gcc) to
   556  combine the go.o object file and any supporting non-Go code into a
   557  final executable. External linking avoids the dynamic library
   558  requirement but introduces a requirement that the host linker be
   559  present to create such a binary.
   560  
   561  Most builds both compile source code and invoke the linker to create a
   562  binary. When cgo is involved, the compile step already requires gcc, so
   563  it is not problematic for the link step to require gcc too.
   564  
   565  An important exception is builds using a pre-compiled copy of the
   566  standard library. In particular, package net uses cgo on most systems,
   567  and we want to preserve the ability to compile pure Go code that
   568  imports net without requiring gcc to be present at link time. (In this
   569  case, the dynamic library requirement is less significant, because the
   570  only library involved is libc.so, which can usually be assumed
   571  present.)
   572  
   573  This conflict between functionality and the gcc requirement means we
   574  must support both internal and external linking, depending on the
   575  circumstances: if net is the only cgo-using package, then internal
   576  linking is probably fine, but if other packages are involved, so that there
   577  are dependencies on libraries beyond libc, external linking is likely
   578  to work better. The compilation of a package records the relevant
   579  information to support both linking modes, leaving the decision
   580  to be made when linking the final binary.
   581  
   582  Linking Directives
   583  
   584  In either linking mode, package-specific directives must be passed
   585  through to 6l. These are communicated by writing //go: directives in a
   586  Go source file compiled by 6g. The directives are copied into the .6
   587  object file and then processed by the linker.
   588  
   589  The directives are:
   590  
   591  //go:cgo_import_dynamic <local> [<remote> ["<library>"]]
   592  
   593  	In internal linking mode, allow an unresolved reference to
   594  	<local>, assuming it will be resolved by a dynamic library
   595  	symbol. The optional <remote> specifies the symbol's name and
   596  	possibly version in the dynamic library, and the optional "<library>"
   597  	names the specific library where the symbol should be found.
   598  
   599  	In the <remote>, # or @ can be used to introduce a symbol version.
   600  
   601  	Examples:
   602  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts
   603  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts puts#GLIBC_2.2.5
   604  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic puts puts#GLIBC_2.2.5 "libc.so.6"
   605  
   606  	A side effect of the cgo_import_dynamic directive with a
   607  	library is to make the final binary depend on that dynamic
   608  	library. To get the dependency without importing any specific
   609  	symbols, use _ for local and remote.
   610  
   611  	Example:
   612  	//go:cgo_import_dynamic _ _ "libc.so.6"
   613  
   614  	For compatibility with current versions of SWIG,
   615  	#pragma dynimport is an alias for //go:cgo_import_dynamic.
   616  
   617  //go:cgo_dynamic_linker "<path>"
   618  
   619  	In internal linking mode, use "<path>" as the dynamic linker
   620  	in the final binary. This directive is only needed from one
   621  	package when constructing a binary; by convention it is
   622  	supplied by runtime/cgo.
   623  
   624  	Example:
   625  	//go:cgo_dynamic_linker "/lib/ld-linux.so.2"
   626  
   627  //go:cgo_export_dynamic <local> <remote>
   628  
   629  	In internal linking mode, put the Go symbol
   630  	named <local> into the program's exported symbol table as
   631  	<remote>, so that C code can refer to it by that name. This
   632  	mechanism makes it possible for C code to call back into Go or
   633  	to share Go's data.
   634  
   635  	For compatibility with current versions of SWIG,
   636  	#pragma dynexport is an alias for //go:cgo_export_dynamic.
   637  
   638  //go:cgo_import_static <local>
   639  
   640  	In external linking mode, allow unresolved references to
   641  	<local> in the go.o object file prepared for the host linker,
   642  	under the assumption that <local> will be supplied by the
   643  	other object files that will be linked with go.o.
   644  
   645  	Example:
   646  	//go:cgo_import_static puts_wrapper
   647  
   648  //go:cgo_export_static <local> <remote>
   649  
   650  	In external linking mode, put the Go symbol
   651  	named <local> into the program's exported symbol table as
   652  	<remote>, so that C code can refer to it by that name. This
   653  	mechanism makes it possible for C code to call back into Go or
   654  	to share Go's data.
   655  
   656  //go:cgo_ldflag "<arg>"
   657  
   658  	In external linking mode, invoke the host linker (usually gcc)
   659  	with "<arg>" as a command-line argument following the .o files.
   660  	Note that the arguments are for "gcc", not "ld".
   661  
   662  	Example:
   663  	//go:cgo_ldflag "-lpthread"
   664  	//go:cgo_ldflag "-L/usr/local/sqlite3/lib"
   665  
   666  A package compiled with cgo will include directives for both
   667  internal and external linking; the linker will select the appropriate
   668  subset for the chosen linking mode.
   669  
   670  Example
   671  
   672  As a simple example, consider a package that uses cgo to call C.sin.
   673  The following code will be generated by cgo:
   674  
   675  	// compiled by 6g
   676  
   677  	//go:cgo_ldflag "-lm"
   678  
   679  	type _Ctype_double float64
   680  
   681  	//go:cgo_import_static _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin
   682  	//go:linkname __cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin
   683  	var __cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin byte
   684  	var _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin = unsafe.Pointer(&__cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin)
   685  
   686  	func _Cfunc_sin(p0 _Ctype_double) (r1 _Ctype_double) {
   687  		_cgo_runtime_cgocall(_cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin, uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&p0)))
   688  		return
   689  	}
   690  
   691  	// compiled by gcc, into foo.cgo2.o
   692  
   693  	void
   694  	_cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin(void *v)
   695  	{
   696  		struct {
   697  			double p0;
   698  			double r;
   699  		} __attribute__((__packed__)) *a = v;
   700  		a->r = sin(a->p0);
   701  	}
   702  
   703  What happens at link time depends on whether the final binary is linked
   704  using the internal or external mode. If other packages are compiled in
   705  "external only" mode, then the final link will be an external one.
   706  Otherwise the link will be an internal one.
   707  
   708  The linking directives are used according to the kind of final link
   709  used.
   710  
   711  In internal mode, 6l itself processes all the host object files, in
   712  particular foo.cgo2.o. To do so, it uses the cgo_import_dynamic and
   713  cgo_dynamic_linker directives to learn that the otherwise undefined
   714  reference to sin in foo.cgo2.o should be rewritten to refer to the
   715  symbol sin with version GLIBC_2.2.5 from the dynamic library
   716  "libm.so.6", and the binary should request "/lib/ld-linux.so.2" as its
   717  runtime dynamic linker.
   718  
   719  In external mode, 6l does not process any host object files, in
   720  particular foo.cgo2.o. It links together the 6g-generated object
   721  files, along with any other Go code, into a go.o file. While doing
   722  that, 6l will discover that there is no definition for
   723  _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin, referred to by the 6g-compiled source file. This
   724  is okay, because 6l also processes the cgo_import_static directive and
   725  knows that _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin is expected to be supplied by a host
   726  object file, so 6l does not treat the missing symbol as an error when
   727  creating go.o. Indeed, the definition for _cgo_gcc_Cfunc_sin will be
   728  provided to the host linker by foo2.cgo.o, which in turn will need the
   729  symbol 'sin'. 6l also processes the cgo_ldflag directives, so that it
   730  knows that the eventual host link command must include the -lm
   731  argument, so that the host linker will be able to find 'sin' in the
   732  math library.
   733  
   734  6l Command Line Interface
   735  
   736  The go command and any other Go-aware build systems invoke 6l
   737  to link a collection of packages into a single binary. By default, 6l will
   738  present the same interface it does today:
   739  
   740  	6l main.a
   741  
   742  produces a file named 6.out, even if 6l does so by invoking the host
   743  linker in external linking mode.
   744  
   745  By default, 6l will decide the linking mode as follows: if the only
   746  packages using cgo are those on a whitelist of standard library
   747  packages (net, os/user, runtime/cgo), 6l will use internal linking
   748  mode. Otherwise, there are non-standard cgo packages involved, and 6l
   749  will use external linking mode. The first rule means that a build of
   750  the godoc binary, which uses net but no other cgo, can run without
   751  needing gcc available. The second rule means that a build of a
   752  cgo-wrapped library like sqlite3 can generate a standalone executable
   753  instead of needing to refer to a dynamic library. The specific choice
   754  can be overridden using a command line flag: 6l -linkmode=internal or
   755  6l -linkmode=external.
   756  
   757  In an external link, 6l will create a temporary directory, write any
   758  host object files found in package archives to that directory (renamed
   759  to avoid conflicts), write the go.o file to that directory, and invoke
   760  the host linker. The default value for the host linker is $CC, split
   761  into fields, or else "gcc". The specific host linker command line can
   762  be overridden using command line flags: 6l -extld=clang
   763  -extldflags='-ggdb -O3'.  If any package in a build includes a .cc or
   764  other file compiled by the C++ compiler, the go tool will use the
   765  -extld option to set the host linker to the C++ compiler.
   766  
   767  These defaults mean that Go-aware build systems can ignore the linking
   768  changes and keep running plain '6l' and get reasonable results, but
   769  they can also control the linking details if desired.
   770  
   771  */