Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Tim Rentsch Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: Constants and undefined behavior Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2026 15:47:07 -0700 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 13 Message-ID: <86v7bv9thw.fsf@linuxsc.com> References: <10v7b32$2u85v$1@dont-email.me> <865x3yd21n.fsf@linuxsc.com> <10vs997$rp5$1@reader1.panix.com> <10vsnl7$lkmu$1@kst.eternal-september.org> <10vt2un$fuu$1@reader1.panix.com> <10vt7b9$pi3s$1@kst.eternal-september.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Injection-Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2026 22:47:08 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="2263952"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/5gmcfhLwOimgHzK4h9Zoe4uGvXQiGJwc="; posting-host="081e13a85c046e7c342399b4c0b9e54e" User-Agent: Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.4 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:74biVR5+QG+vmhUc+FH22w+NORU= sha1:WpnOIZnz/iEacbVdmx2cj6KEEPY= sha256:EMFAU06T9bjCOXSkqgsBG7xGQmbqjrkeZjN0xM0sv2k= sha1:DTsoLVZBORlaXmPBAL5+F0tqG+A= Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.c:399772 Keith Thompson writes: > I claim that an expression that looks like a constant expression > *isn't* a constant-expression if it doesn't appear in a context > that requires a constant-expression. Right. This question came up years ago in a Defect Report. The response from the Committee was basically the same as what you said: the 6.6 constraints for constant expressions apply only in situations where the C standard expressly requires a constant expression. (I don't have the DR in front of me; I'm summarizing based on memory, but am confident the actual wording is consistent with what I just said.)