P4 (programming language): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:18, 12 December 2019

Revision as of 16:48, 18 December 2019

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| year = {{start date and age|2013}}

| developer = [[The P4 Language Consortium]]

| latest_release_version = version 1.12<ref>{{cite web|title=P4 Language and Related Specifications |url=https://p4.org/specsp4-spec/docs/P4-16-v1.2.0.html |accessdate=2 AprilDecember 2019}}</ref>

| latest_release_date = {{start date and age|df=yes|20182019|1110|2223}}

| license = [[Apache Licence|Apache]]-style

| website = {{URL|http://p4.org}}

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== History ==

The programming language P4 was originally described in a SIGCOMM CCR paper in 2014 titled “Programming Protocol-Independent Packet Processors”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sigcomm.org/node/3503|title=P4: Programming Protocol-Independent Packet Processors|date=July 2014|accessdate=7 April 2015}}</ref> – the alliterative name shortens to “P4”. The first P4 workshop took place in June, 2015 <ref>{{cite web |url=https://p4.org/events/2015-06-04-p4-workshop/ |website=P4 Official Website |accessdate=1 August 2019}}</ref> at [[Stanford University | Stanford University]]. An updated specification of P4, called P4-16, was released between 2016 and 2017 <ref>{{cite web |title=P4-16 Specification |url=https://p4lang.githubp4.ioorg/p4-spec/docs/P4-16-v1.12.0-spec.pdfhtml |website=P4 Official Website}}</ref> replacing original specification of P4, called P4-14.

==Design==

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==Components==

P4 programs are typically have the following components:

===Parsing logic===

P4 allows the specification of custom packet header parsing logic <ref>{{cite web |title=P4-16 Specification |url=https://p4lang.githubp4.ioorg/p4-spec/docs/P4-16-v1.12.0-spec.pdfhtml |website=P4 Official Website}}</ref> including but not limited to parsing typical headers used in the TCP/IP protocol suite and application specific headers.

===Headers===

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===Stateful processing===

P4 allows the programmer to maintain state in the form of registers, counters and meters <ref>{{cite web |title=P4-16 Specification |url=https://p4lang.githubp4.ioorg/p4-spec/docs/P4-16-v1.12.0-spec.pdfhtml |website=P4 Official Website}}</ref>.

===Generic match action tables===