python / python/cpython

Vendored mimalloc references macOS preprocessor symbols that no longer exist

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OS-ios OS-mac type-bug
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Bug report

Bug description:

The CPython sources include a vendored copy of https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc.

This was added 5 months ago as part of #109914. the commit comment says it is version "v2.12". That doesn't appear to be a mimalloc release, but v2.1.2 does exist, and was the current stable release as of November 2023.

However, that code references TARGET_IOS_IPHONE and TARGET_IOS_SIMULATOR. These symbols were deprecated in iOS 15 (released ~2 years ago). These references have been updated in the dev branch of mimalloc (along with many other changes), but there isn't an updated stable mimalloc release at time of writing.

We have also made a number of other changes to the vendored version (about 18 commits, by my count). It's not clear if these mirror changes that have been made upstream, or if we have effectively forked mimalloc at this point.

The code still appears to work at present, but there's a risk it might not in future when the symbol deprecations are finalised. There may also be other updates and bugfixes in mimalloc that we're not taking advantage of.

This was discovered during an audit of TARGET_OS symbol usage following the report of #117886 and #117891.

CPython versions tested on:

CPython main branch

Operating systems tested on:

macOS

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start in CPython's vendored mimalloc sources by searching for TARGET_IOS_IPHONE and TARGET_IOS_SIMULATOR, then compare that copy with mimalloc's development branch and the approximately 18 local commits. Done means documenting whether the deprecated symbols and other relevant upstream fixes should be incorporated, or whether the vendored copy has diverged into a maintained fork.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, macos, python
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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