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Re: Is C ready to become a safer language?

From Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Newsgroups comp.lang.c
Subject Re: Is C ready to become a safer language?
Date 2024-02-10 22:21 -0800
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <86jznb4j2r.fsf@linuxsc.com> (permalink)
References <uq1jnk$1qebo$2@dont-email.me> <uq2vjp$21qev$1@dont-email.me> <86eddl5bag.fsf@linuxsc.com> <uq8lus$3dceu$1@dont-email.me>

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bart <bc@freeuk.com> writes:

> On 10/02/2024 01:59, Tim Rentsch wrote:
>
>> bart <bc@freeuk.com> writes:
>>
>> [...]
>>
>>> This is something which has long been of fascination to me:  how
>>> exactly do you get a C compiler to actually fail a program with a
>>> hard error when there is obviously something wrong, while not also
>>> failing on completely harmless matters.
>>
>> I think the answer is obvious:  unless and until you find someone
>> who works on a C compiler and who has exactly the same sense that
>> you do of "when there is obviously something wrong" and of what
>> conditions fall under the heading of "completely harmless matters",
>> and also the same sense that you do of how a C compiler should
>> behave in those cases, you won't get exactly what you want unless
>> you do it yourself.
>
> Take this function:
>
>   void F() {
>     F();
>     F(1);
>     F(1, 2.0);
>     F(1, 2.0, "3");
>     F(1, 2.0, "3", F);
>   }
>
> Even if /one/ of those calls is correct, the other four can't be
> possibly be correct as well.
>
> Is there anyone here who doesn't think there is something obviously wrong?
>
> How about this one:
>
>   #include <stdio.h>
>   int main(void) {
>     int a;
>     L1:
>     printf("Hello, World!\n");
>   }
>
> Ramp up the warnings and a compiler will tell you about unused 'a' and
> L1'.  Use -Werror and the compilation will fail.
>
> Is there anyone here who thinks that running this program with those
> unused identifiers is not completely harmless?

In both cases the answer is, It depends.

There are scenarios where I would want the first example to compile
successfully and without any complaints.  There are other scenarios
where I would want the second example to be given fatal errors during
compilation.  Good compilers provide a range of options, knowing that
different circumstances call for different compilation outcomes.
Even if you want the same set of error and warning conditions in
every single compile that you do, other people don't.  So you better
get used to the idea of setting the various options the way you want
them, or else write your own compiler and discover that no one else
will use it because it doesn't offer any way to select the particular
sets of choices they need for the various compilation scenarios that
are important to what they're doing.

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Thread

Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 01:01 -0300
  Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2024-02-08 04:40 +0000
    Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Kaz Kylheku <433-929-6894@kylheku.com> - 2024-02-08 05:00 +0000
    Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 09:20 -0300
      Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-08 17:02 +0000
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 14:17 -0300
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 14:19 -0300
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 09:57 -0800
      Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 09:45 -0800
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 14:56 -0300
  Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Kaz Kylheku <433-929-6894@kylheku.com> - 2024-02-08 04:58 +0000
    Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-07 21:33 -0800
  Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-07 20:59 -0800
    Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-08 09:17 +0100
      Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 09:48 -0300
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 14:42 +0000
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-08 16:25 +0100
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 13:15 -0300
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-08 21:42 +0100
      Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 08:04 -0800
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 16:14 +0000
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 08:32 -0800
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 08:19 +0100
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-09 07:46 +0000
              Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 09:33 +0100
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-09 10:03 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 11:17 +0100
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-02-09 10:24 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-09 11:24 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-02-09 13:28 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-09 14:04 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 15:03 +0100
                ustent on that. Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-09 16:01 +0000
                Re: ustent on that. David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 18:00 +0100
                Re: ustent on that. Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-10 01:20 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-09 12:45 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-02-09 13:01 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 15:08 +0100
              Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-09 08:48 -0800
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 08:14 +0100
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-09 08:28 -0800
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-09 20:15 +0100
    Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-02-10 02:28 -0800
      Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-10 16:15 -0800
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-02-10 23:22 -0800
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-11 00:12 -0800
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-02-11 23:48 -0800
              Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-18 15:28 -0800
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-03-23 10:35 -0700
  Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2024-02-08 15:37 +0000
    Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-08 13:25 -0300
  Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-08 16:30 +0000
    Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-02-09 17:59 -0800
      Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-10 20:22 +0000
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> - 2024-02-10 21:30 +0000
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Kaz Kylheku <433-929-6894@kylheku.com> - 2024-02-10 21:49 +0000
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-10 20:44 -0300
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-11 13:06 +0100
              Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-11 15:43 -0300
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-11 13:33 -0800
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-12 11:32 +0100
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-11 00:02 +0000
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-10 17:39 -0800
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Kaz Kylheku <433-929-6894@kylheku.com> - 2024-02-11 02:46 +0000
              Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-11 12:24 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-11 15:06 +0100
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Kaz Kylheku <433-929-6894@kylheku.com> - 2024-02-11 18:32 +0000
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-11 13:15 +0100
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-10 16:31 -0800
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2024-02-11 15:57 -0300
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-11 13:47 -0800
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? vallor <vallor@cultnix.org> - 2024-02-11 00:40 +0000
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-11 01:06 +0000
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-02-10 17:51 -0800
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-02-11 13:27 +0100
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-02-10 19:54 -0800
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? vallor <vallor@cultnix.org> - 2024-02-13 06:22 +0000
          Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2024-02-11 11:01 +0000
            Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> - 2024-02-11 11:31 +0000
              Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-11 12:38 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> - 2024-02-11 13:23 +0000
                Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-02-11 14:17 +0000
        Re: Is C ready to become a safer language? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-02-10 22:21 -0800

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