Is it either possible to get the size of a function in bytes to see if it matches another function similar to C++ sizeof operator, or evaluate two functions some other way to see if they are both equal without actually knowing what the function/s are? Example:
local function equals(func1, func2)
-- check them and return true if equal
end
If this is not possible just say and that will satisfy my answer! Thank you!
EDIT: The body of one function is what I need to check to see if it is the same as another function's body. The reference in memory will be different so I cannot use "==" but the function's reference name can be different.
The operator == tests for equality; the operator ~= is the negation of equality. We can apply both operators to any two values. If the values have different types, Lua considers them different values. Otherwise, Lua compares them according to their types.
The ~= symbol or operator in Lua is known as the not-equal to operator. In many programming languages you might have seen the symbol != which is also known as the not equals operator.
Using ==
for functions only checks if they reference to the same function, which is not what you expected.
This task is rather difficult, if not impossible at all. For really simple cases, here's an idea:
function f(x) return x + 1 end
local g = function(y) return y + 1 end
f
and g
are two function that are equal by your definition. Assuming the file is t.lua
, run:
luac -l t.lua
The output is:
main <t.lua:0,0> (4 instructions at 00000000003081c0)
0+ params, 2 slots, 1 upvalue, 1 local, 1 constant, 2 functions
1 [1] CLOSURE 0 0 ; 0000000000308330
2 [1] SETTABUP 0 -1 0 ; _ENV "f"
3 [2] CLOSURE 0 1 ; 0000000000308dc0
4 [2] RETURN 0 1
function <t.lua:1,1> (3 instructions at 0000000000308330)
1 param, 2 slots, 0 upvalues, 1 local, 1 constant, 0 functions
1 [1] ADD 1 0 -1 ; - 1
2 [1] RETURN 1 2
3 [1] RETURN 0 1
function <t.lua:2,2> (3 instructions at 0000000000308dc0)
1 param, 2 slots, 0 upvalues, 1 local, 1 constant, 0 functions
1 [2] ADD 1 0 -1 ; - 1
2 [2] RETURN 1 2
3 [2] RETURN 0 1
As you can see, the two functions have the same instructions in the virtual machine.
Will comparing the bytecode do?
local function equals(func1, func2)
return string.dump(func1) == string.dump(func2)
end
Surely, there would be some cases were the above would fail. For instance:
local function f1 (...)
local a = print
a(...)
end
local function f2 (...)
print(...)
end
local function equals (f1, f2)
return string.dump(f1) == string.dump(f2)
end
print(equals(f1,f2)) --> false
Both functions do the same thing, but they generate different bytecode. Maybe if you state what you're trying to achive, a better solution than function comparison can be provided.
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