bpf: Add documentation for libbpf including API autogen

This patch is meant to start the initiative to document libbpf.
It includes .rst files which are text documentation describing building,
API naming convention, as well as an index to generated API documentation.

In this approach the generated API documentation is enabled by the kernels
existing kernel documentation system which uses sphinx. The resulting docs
would then be synced to kernel.org/doc

You can test this by running `make htmldocs` and serving the html in
Documentation/output. Since libbpf does not yet have comments in kernel
doc format, see kernel.org/doc/html/latest/doc-guide/kernel-doc.html for
an example so you can test this.

The advantage of this approach is to use the existing sphinx
infrastructure that the kernel has, and have libbpf docs in
the same place as everything else.

The current plan is to have the libbpf mirror sync the generated docs
and version them based on the libbpf releases which are cut on github.

This patch includes the addition of libbpf_api.rst which pulls comment
documentation from header files in libbpf under tools/lib/bpf/. The comment
docs would be of the standard kernel doc format.

Signed-off-by: Grant Seltzer <grantseltzer@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrii Nakryiko <andrii@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20210618140459.9887-2-grantseltzer@gmail.com

1 files changed, 162 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/libbpf/libbpf_naming_convention.rst b/Documentation/bpf/libbpf/libbpf_naming_convention.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3de1d51e41da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/bpf/libbpf/libbpf_naming_convention.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: (LGPL-2.1 OR BSD-2-Clause)
+
+API naming convention
+=====================
+
+libbpf API provides access to a few logically separated groups of
+functions and types. Every group has its own naming convention
+described here. It's recommended to follow these conventions whenever a
+new function or type is added to keep libbpf API clean and consistent.
+
+All types and functions provided by libbpf API should have one of the
+following prefixes: ``bpf_``, ``btf_``, ``libbpf_``, ``xsk_``,
+``btf_dump_``, ``ring_buffer_``, ``perf_buffer_``.
+
+System call wrappers
+--------------------
+
+System call wrappers are simple wrappers for commands supported by
+sys_bpf system call. These wrappers should go to ``bpf.h`` header file
+and map one to one to corresponding commands.
+
+For example ``bpf_map_lookup_elem`` wraps ``BPF_MAP_LOOKUP_ELEM``
+command of sys_bpf, ``bpf_prog_attach`` wraps ``BPF_PROG_ATTACH``, etc.
+
+Objects
+-------
+
+Another class of types and functions provided by libbpf API is "objects"
+and functions to work with them. Objects are high-level abstractions
+such as BPF program or BPF map. They're represented by corresponding
+structures such as ``struct bpf_object``, ``struct bpf_program``,
+``struct bpf_map``, etc.
+
+Structures are forward declared and access to their fields should be
+provided via corresponding getters and setters rather than directly.
+
+These objects are associated with corresponding parts of ELF object that
+contains compiled BPF programs.
+
+For example ``struct bpf_object`` represents ELF object itself created
+from an ELF file or from a buffer, ``struct bpf_program`` represents a
+program in ELF object and ``struct bpf_map`` is a map.
+
+Functions that work with an object have names built from object name,
+double underscore and part that describes function purpose.
+
+For example ``bpf_object__open`` consists of the name of corresponding
+object, ``bpf_object``, double underscore and ``open`` that defines the
+purpose of the function to open ELF file and create ``bpf_object`` from
+it.
+
+All objects and corresponding functions other than BTF related should go
+to ``libbpf.h``. BTF types and functions should go to ``btf.h``.
+
+Auxiliary functions
+-------------------
+
+Auxiliary functions and types that don't fit well in any of categories
+described above should have ``libbpf_`` prefix, e.g.
+``libbpf_get_error`` or ``libbpf_prog_type_by_name``.
+
+AF_XDP functions
+-------------------
+
+AF_XDP functions should have an ``xsk_`` prefix, e.g.
+``xsk_umem__get_data`` or ``xsk_umem__create``. The interface consists
+of both low-level ring access functions and high-level configuration
+functions. These can be mixed and matched. Note that these functions
+are not reentrant for performance reasons.
+
+ABI
+==========
+
+libbpf can be both linked statically or used as DSO. To avoid possible
+conflicts with other libraries an application is linked with, all
+non-static libbpf symbols should have one of the prefixes mentioned in
+API documentation above. See API naming convention to choose the right
+name for a new symbol.
+
+Symbol visibility
+-----------------
+
+libbpf follow the model when all global symbols have visibility "hidden"
+by default and to make a symbol visible it has to be explicitly
+attributed with ``LIBBPF_API`` macro. For example:
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+        LIBBPF_API int bpf_prog_get_fd_by_id(__u32 id);
+
+This prevents from accidentally exporting a symbol, that is not supposed
+to be a part of ABI what, in turn, improves both libbpf developer- and
+user-experiences.
+
+ABI versionning
+---------------
+
+To make future ABI extensions possible libbpf ABI is versioned.
+Versioning is implemented by ``libbpf.map`` version script that is
+passed to linker.
+
+Version name is ``LIBBPF_`` prefix + three-component numeric version,
+starting from ``0.0.1``.
+
+Every time ABI is being changed, e.g. because a new symbol is added or
+semantic of existing symbol is changed, ABI version should be bumped.
+This bump in ABI version is at most once per kernel development cycle.
+
+For example, if current state of ``libbpf.map`` is:
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+        LIBBPF_0.0.1 {
+        	global:
+                        bpf_func_a;
+                        bpf_func_b;
+        	local:
+        		\*;
+        };
+
+, and a new symbol ``bpf_func_c`` is being introduced, then
+``libbpf.map`` should be changed like this:
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+        LIBBPF_0.0.1 {
+        	global:
+                        bpf_func_a;
+                        bpf_func_b;
+        	local:
+        		\*;
+        };
+        LIBBPF_0.0.2 {
+                global:
+                        bpf_func_c;
+        } LIBBPF_0.0.1;
+
+, where new version ``LIBBPF_0.0.2`` depends on the previous
+``LIBBPF_0.0.1``.
+
+Format of version script and ways to handle ABI changes, including
+incompatible ones, described in details in [1].
+
+Stand-alone build
+-------------------
+
+Under https://github.com/libbpf/libbpf there is a (semi-)automated
+mirror of the mainline's version of libbpf for a stand-alone build.
+
+However, all changes to libbpf's code base must be upstreamed through
+the mainline kernel tree.
+
+License
+-------------------
+
+libbpf is dual-licensed under LGPL 2.1 and BSD 2-Clause.
+
+Links
+-------------------
+
+[1] https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/dsohowto.pdf
+    (Chapter 3. Maintaining APIs and ABIs).