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DEVELOPERS.md

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Developer guidelines

Please read carefully before contributing to this repo.

Code structure

The code is split into the modules below:

  • common: common code for AES, SHAKE, (P)RNG, memory handling. Every module that needs a hash function, seed expansion (e.g., KLPT), deterministic alea for tests, should call to this module.
  • uintbig: multi-precision big integers.
  • gf: GF(p^2) and GF(p) arithmetic.
  • ec: elliptic curves, isogenies and pairings. Everything that is purely finite-fieldy.
  • quaternion: quaternion orders and ideals. This is, essentially, replacing PARI/GP.
  • klpt: implementation of KLPT.
  • id2iso: code for Iso <-> Ideal.
  • util: auxilary code shared among libraries.

The sources for the modules are in src/. Each module is structured as follows:

SQIsign
└── src
    └── <module_name>
        ├── <arch>
        │   ├── generic
        │   └── lvl1
        ├── opt
        │   ├── generic
        │   ├── lvl1
        │   ├── lvl1_var1
        │   ├── lvl3
        │   └── lvl5
        └── ref
            └── generic

where:

  • <module_name> is the name of the module.
  • <arch> are optional architecture-specific implementations of the module (e.g., broadwell for code using assembly instructions specific to the Broadwell platform).
  • opt and ref are the portable optimized and reference implementations.
  • lvl1, lvl3, lvl5 are parameter-dependent implementations of the module, corresponding to NIST levels 1, 3 and 5, respectively.
  • lvl1_var1 is a variant of lvl1, e.g., using a different prime characteristic. The naming is free, and implementors are encouraged to choose more explicit naming, e.g., lvl1_varp6983 for the variant using the p6983 prime defined in the SQIsign AC20 variant.
  • generic is a parameter-independent implementation of the module. If no folder is named like the currently selected variant (see Build), then this is compiled instead.

Each of the folders above is allowed to be a symlink. E.g., if a module has no separate optimized and reference implementation, then opt can be a symlink to ref. Other example: a module's code only depends on the field size, but not the specific prime, then lvl1_varp6983 could be a symlink to lvl1.

Contents of a module

The leaf folders described above should arrange code as described below. We use the generic implementation of the uintbig module as an example.

generic
├── bench
│   ├── CmakeLists.txt
│   ├── bench1.c
│   └── bench2.c
├── include
│   └── uintbig.h
├── test 
│   ├── CmakeLists.txt
│   ├── test1.c
│   └── test2.c
├── CmakeLists.txt
├── internal_header.h
├── soruce1.c
└── soruce2.c

where:

  • include/ shall contain a unique header file named <module_name>.h, where <module_name> is the name of the module. This header contains the public API of the module, and is the only header that can be included by other modules (e.g., via #include <uintbig.h>). These files must contain extensive doxygen-formatted documentation describing the module, see Documentation.
  • bench and test contain one executable per file, containing, well, benchmarks and unit tests. Refer to Benchmarks and Tests for instructions on how to write these.
  • Internal headers for the private use of the module, such as internal_header.h go to the root. Include these using #include "internal_header.h".
  • The implementation of the module also goes into the root.

Tests

It is important to have extensive test coverage of the whole software. Each module must have its own unit tests, as well as integration tests to ensure consistency across the modules.

Unit tests

These go into src/<module_name>/<ref|opt|...>/<generic|lvl1|...>/test/. Refer to ... for an example of how to write tests.

Integration tests

These go into test/. Refer to test/test_sqisign.c for an example.

Known Answer Tests (KAT)

KATs help validate consistency across implementations. By ensuring that, e.g., the optimized and reference implementation produce the same signatures.

See [Known Answer Tests in README.md](README.md#Known Answer Tests (KAT)).

Benchmarks

Benchmarks for a module go into src/<module_name>/<ref|opt|...>/<generic|lvl1|...>/bench/. Global benchmarks go...

Documentation

Use Doxygen headers for documentation.

All code should be extensively documented. The public module headers MUST be thoroughly documented.

CI automatically builds a PDF of the doc every time code is pushed. To download the PDF, go to Actions, click on the workflow run you're interested in, then go to Artifacts -> docs (see figure).

Branches and pull requests

Always work on topic branches, never push work in progress on the main branch. Once a task / issue / work unit is completed, create a pull-request and ask your team leader for a review.

Coding style

  • C version: All code must compile cleanly as C99, without emitting any warnings, using recent versions of GCC and clang.

  • Names: Externally visible functions and types should be prefixed with the name of the module they belong to.

  • Aliases: Do use typedef with descriptive names whenever it makes any nonzero amount of sense to do so. Avoid typedefs for things other than structs (or elementary data types); they have a tendency to break for array and pointer types if programmers are not aware of the nature of the underlying type.

  • Parameters: Output arguments, if any, should always come first. Input arguments should generally be marked const. Objects of types which typically fit into registers should be passed and returned by value, larger objects by reference (i.e., as a pointer). If certain arguments often appear together, it may be an indication that they should be wrapped as a struct.

  • Global variables: Global constants are acceptable if needed, especially within modules whose code already implicitly relies on the same constants anyway (primary example: 𝔽ₚ). It is often a good idea to group global constants in a meaningful struct and write the code such that the struct could easily be replaced by a runtime variable at a later point. Global state (modifiable global variables), on the other hand, is strictly forbidden.

  • Whitespace: Try not to mix tabs and spaces. Line endings should be UNIX-style (i.e., \n rather than \r\n). Whitespace characters at the end of a line, or by themselves on an otherwise empty line, are to be avoided.