Kernel time APIs for Rust

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By Jonathan Corbet March 2, 2023 While the 6.3 kernel has gained more support for the Rust language, it still remains true that there is little that can be done in Rust beyond the creation of a "hello world" module. That functionality was already available in C, of course, with a level of safety similar to what Rust can provide. Interest is growing, though, in merging actually useful modules written in Rust; that will require some more capable infrastructure than is currently present. A recent discussion on the handling of time values in Rust demonstrates the challenges — and opportunities — inherent in this effort.

Asahi Lina, who is implementing a graphics driver for Apple hardware in Rust, has posted a number of pieces of Rust infrastructure, including a module for timekeeping functions. The timekeeping module itself is just a beginning, weighing in at all of 25 lines; it looks like this:

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