Re: Test some kernel feature without recompile

[Dragoslav Zaric <dragoslav.zaric.kd@gmail.com>]

On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 9:29 PM, Jesper Juhl <jj@chaosbits.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Mar 2009, Dragoslav Zaric wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I know when you work on some kernel module, you can change code and load
>> module again and test it, but what if you change some built in kernel
>> .c file, why
>> would I need to recompile whole kernel just to see what happens if I change one
>> .c file ??
>>
> Depends on the nature of the change. Some changes will ripple through the
> whole kernel.
> If, for example, you made a change to kmalloc() so that it takes an extra
> argument, then obviously all call sites would need changing and since
> kmalloc is used almose everywhere, then almost all files would need to be
> recompiled.
> But if your change is entirely contained to a single file, then 'make'
> will already ensure that only that file is rebuilt when you run 'make'
> (you'll still have to re-link the kernel or module though and a reboot
> will still be needed).
>
>> Why can I just compile one changed .c file and copy it where compiled version of
>> that file reside inside kernel tree?
>
> 'make' should already handle that for you. In what way does it not?
>
> --
> Jesper Juhl <jj@chaosbits.net>             http://www.chaosbits.net/
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