wrapper: introduce `log2u()`

We have an implementation of a function that computes the log2 for an
integer. While we could instead use log2(3P), that involves floating
point numbers and is thus needlessly complex and inefficient.

We're about to add a second caller that wants to compute log2 for a
`size_t`. Let's thus move the function into "wrapper.h" such that it
becomes generally available.

While at it, tweak the implementation a bit:

  - The parameter is converted from `int` to `uintmax_t`. This
    conversion is safe to do in "bisect.c" because we already check that
    the argument is positive.

  - The return value is an `unsigned`. It cannot ever be negative, so it
    is pointless for it to be a signed integer.

  - Loop until `!n` instead of requiring that `n > 1` and then subtract
    1 from the result and add a special case for `!sz`. This helps
    compilers to generate more efficient code.

Compilers recognize the pattern of this function and optimize
accordingly. On GCC 14.2 x86_64:

    log2u(unsigned long):
            test    rdi, rdi
            je      .L3
            bsr     rax, rdi
            ret
    .L3:
            mov     eax, -1
            ret

Clang 18.1 does not yet recognize the pattern, but starts to do so on
Clang trunk x86_64. The code isn't quite as efficient as the one
generated by GCC, but still manages to optimize away the loop:

    log2u(unsigned long):
            test    rdi, rdi
            je      .LBB0_1
            shr     rdi
            bsr     rcx, rdi
            mov     eax, 127
            cmovne  rax, rcx
            xor     eax, -64
            add     eax, 65
            ret
    .LBB0_1:
            mov     eax, -1
            ret

The pattern is also recognized on other platforms like ARM64 GCC 14.2.0,
where we end up using `clz`:

    log2u(unsigned long):
            clz     x2, x0
            cmp     x0, 0
            mov     w1, 63
            sub     w0, w1, w2
            csinv   w0, w0, wzr, ne
            ret

Note that we have a similar function `fastlog2()` in the reftable code.
As that codebase is separate from the Git codebase we do not adapt it to
use the new function.

Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 18 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/wrapper.h b/wrapper.h
index 1b2b047ea0..a6b3e1f09e 100644
--- a/wrapper.h
+++ b/wrapper.h
@@ -140,4 +140,22 @@ int csprng_bytes(void *buf, size_t len);
  */
 uint32_t git_rand(void);
 
+/* Provide log2 of the given `size_t`. */
+static inline unsigned log2u(uintmax_t sz)
+{
+	unsigned l = 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * Technically this isn't required, but it helps the compiler optimize
+	 * this to a `bsr` instruction.
+	 */
+	if (!sz)
+		return 0;
+
+	for (; sz; sz >>= 1)
+		l++;
+
+	return l - 1;
+}
+
 #endif /* WRAPPER_H */