likely and unlikely

在内核代码中经常见到likely和unlikely宏。

The macros are defined as :

#define likely(x)       __builtin_expect((x),1)
#define unlikely(x)     __builtin_expect((x),0)

The __builtin_expect is a method that gcc (versions >= 2.96) offer for programmers to indicate branch prediction information to the compiler. The return value of __builtin_expect is the first argument (which could only be an integer) passed to it.

To check it out how it could be beneficial, an excerpt from "info gcc" :

     if (__builtin_expect (x, 0))
                foo ();


     [This] would indicate that we do not expect to call `foo', since we
     expect `x' to be zero. 

Based on this information the compiler generates intelligent code, such that the most expected result is favored.

__builtin_expect (exp, val)只是在我们实现代码时能够预见exp的值很有可能会是val，
编译时通过这个宏把我们的预期告诉编译器，编译器按照这个预期会生成更高效的可执行代码。
该宏的返回值为exp，exp只能是整型。