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Groups > comp.lang.c > #399456 > unrolled thread

this girl calls c ugly

Started byfir <profesor.fir@gmail.com>
First post2026-05-27 19:53 +0200
Last post2026-05-30 11:18 +0200
Articles 20 on this page of 333 — 21 participants

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Contents

  this girl calls c ugly fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 19:53 +0200
    Re: this girl calls c ugly fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 20:15 +0200
      Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 18:49 -0500
        Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-28 04:53 +0000
          Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 02:35 -0500
            Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-28 23:32 +0000
              Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 20:07 -0500
          Re: this girl calls c ugly Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 11:48 +0200
        Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-28 09:18 +0200
          Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 04:57 -0500
            Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-28 23:35 +0000
            Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 09:52 +0200
              Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 05:20 -0500
                Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-29 13:22 +0200
                  Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 15:16 -0500
                    Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-30 13:52 +0200
                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-30 14:40 +0200
                        Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-30 16:36 +0200
                      Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-30 15:48 -0500
                        Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 11:14 +0200
                          Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-31 13:25 -0500
                            Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 22:14 +0200
                Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 15:22 +0200
                Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-30 03:49 +0000
          Re: this girl calls c ugly "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 12:47 -0700
            Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 09:56 +0200
              Re: this girl calls c ugly "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 11:00 -0700
        Re: this girl calls c ugly fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 17:12 +0200
          Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 14:07 -0500
            Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-28 23:54 +0000
              Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 10:02 +0200
                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 12:19 +0100
                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 14:46 +0200
                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 14:22 +0100
                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 17:15 +0200
                        Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-05-29 15:59 +0000
                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 17:12 +0100
                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 18:48 +0200
                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 19:09 +0100
                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 22:00 +0200
                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 22:14 +0100
                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 12:09 -0700
                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 17:05 +0100
                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 18:34 +0200
                      Re: this girl calls c ugly tTh <tth@none.invalid> - 2026-05-29 19:29 +0200
                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 18:53 +0100
                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 12:28 -0700
                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 20:49 +0100
                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 22:03 +0200
                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 13:56 -0700
                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 22:54 +0100
                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 15:52 -0700
                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-05-29 20:31 -0400
                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-30 02:03 +0100
                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 19:02 -0700
                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-30 12:12 +0100
                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-05-30 12:29 +0000
                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-30 13:56 +0100
                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-30 16:43 -0700
                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-31 03:37 +0200
                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-30 19:53 -0700
                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-02 12:16 +0200
                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 11:47 +0200
                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-02 12:55 +0200
                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> - 2026-05-31 09:12 +0100
                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 11:49 +0200
                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-31 11:10 +0100
                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 13:18 +0200
                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-05-31 10:24 -0400
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 17:35 +0200
                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-05-31 12:46 -0400
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 22:24 +0200
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-05-31 18:26 -0400
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-01 08:28 +0200
                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-31 15:54 -0700
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-01 08:39 +0200
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-01 02:33 -0700
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-02 11:48 +0200
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-06-02 06:37 -0400
                                                        Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-02 05:06 -0700
                                                          Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 16:28 +0000
                                                            Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-04 03:37 -0700
                                                              Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-04 16:31 +0000
                                                                Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 13:36 -0700
                                                                  Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-04 23:49 +0000
                                                                    Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 18:04 -0700
                                                                      Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-06 03:10 +0000
                                                                        Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-05 23:50 -0700
                                                                          Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-08 02:20 +0000
                                                                            Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-08 12:39 -0700
                                                                              Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-08 23:15 +0000
                                                                                Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-08 18:51 -0700
                                                                                  Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-09 09:46 +0000
                                                                                    Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-09 15:07 -0700
                                                                            Re: Constants and undefined behavior antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-09 01:25 +0000
                                                                              Re: Constants and undefined behavior James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-06-09 18:29 -0400
                                                                                Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-09 16:01 -0700
                                                                                  Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-10 12:36 +0000
                                                                              Re: Constants and undefined behavior Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-11 16:49 +0200
                                                                                Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-11 15:20 +0000
                                                                      Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-06 15:47 -0700
                                                                        Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-06 16:36 -0700
                                                                          Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-06 16:43 -0700
                                                                            Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-06 17:41 -0700
                                                                    Re: Constants and undefined behavior Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-05 10:41 +0200
                                                                      Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-05 10:49 -0700
                                                                      Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-06 16:15 -0700
                                                                  Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-06 18:06 -0700
                                                                    Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-07 22:34 -0700
                                                                Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-08 23:05 -0700
                                                                  Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-09 10:19 +0000
                                                                    Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-09 15:12 -0700
                                                                      Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-10 14:37 +0000
                                                                        Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-10 18:30 +0000
                                                                          Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 14:55 -0700
                                                                            Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-10 23:32 +0000
                                                                        Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 14:47 -0700
                                                                          Re: Constants and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-11 08:56 +0200
                                                                            Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-11 11:38 +0000
                                                                              Re: Constants and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-11 14:05 +0200
                                                                            Re: Constants and undefined behavior Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-11 17:34 +0200
                                                                        Re: Constants and undefined behavior Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-11 17:45 +0200
                                                                    Re: Constants and undefined behavior Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-10 15:11 -0700
                                                                      Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-10 22:44 +0000
                                                                        Re: Constants and undefined behavior Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 16:19 -0700
                                                                          Re: Constants and undefined behavior cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-11 11:50 +0000
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 05:35 -0700
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-02 06:29 -0700
                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-02 16:10 +0200
                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 15:29 -0700
                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-05 06:41 -0700
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-05 11:24 -0700
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-08 08:35 -0700
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-08 17:33 +0000
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-09 00:54 -0700
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-09 10:08 +0000
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-08 13:40 -0700
                                                                  Meaning of "expression" Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-08 14:05 -0700
                                                                    Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-09 15:17 +0200
                                                                      Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-09 14:53 +0100
                                                                        Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-09 16:30 +0200
                                                                          Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-09 17:13 +0200
                                                                            Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-09 15:34 -0700
                                                                              Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-10 09:04 +0200
                                                                                Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-10 11:10 +0100
                                                                                  Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-10 13:29 +0200
                                                                                Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 03:17 -0700
                                                                                  Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-10 13:43 +0200
                                                                                Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 14:08 -0700
                                                                                  Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-11 09:10 +0200
                                                                        Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") tTh <tth@none.invalid> - 2026-06-09 19:27 +0200
                                                                          Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-09 19:19 +0100
                                                                      Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression") Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-09 15:22 -0700
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-06 03:22 +0000
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-05 23:56 -0700
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-07 13:37 +0000
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-07 15:09 -0700
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-08 02:33 +0000
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-08 00:16 -0700
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-08 12:41 +0000
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-08 17:37 +0000
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-09 16:05 +0200
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 13:59 -0700
                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 13:05 +0000
                                                Parentheses (was: this girl calls c ugly) Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-02 14:38 +0100
                                                  Re: Parentheses (was: this girl calls c ugly) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 15:19 +0000
                                                  Re: Parentheses antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-03 22:30 +0000
                                                    Re: Parentheses Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-03 16:24 -0700
                                                      Re: Parentheses antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-04 02:03 +0000
                                                    Re: Parentheses Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 01:12 +0100
                                                      Re: Parentheses antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-04 01:58 +0000
                                                        Re: Parentheses Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 11:37 +0100
                                                      Re: Parentheses cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-04 10:51 +0000
                                                        Re: Parentheses Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 12:47 +0100
                                                          Re: Parentheses Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-04 14:57 +0200
                                                          Re: Parentheses cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-04 14:31 +0000
                                                [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-02 15:54 +0200
                                                  Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-02 15:19 +0100
                                                  Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 15:19 +0000
                                                    Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-02 17:39 +0200
                                                      Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 16:36 +0000
                                                        Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-02 21:33 +0000
                                                          Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 14:43 -0700
                                                    Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-06-02 17:08 +0000
                                                      Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 19:19 +0000
                                                      Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-04 00:11 +0000
                                                    Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 15:39 -0700
                                                      Re: [OT] Fancy graphics (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-03 13:14 +0000
                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-02 15:10 +0000
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 15:31 +0000
                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-05-31 10:15 -0400
                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 16:29 +0200
                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-31 03:45 -0700
                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-31 04:02 -0700
                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-05-31 09:04 -0700
                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-31 18:11 +0100
                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-05-31 19:34 +0000
                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-05-31 19:10 -0700
                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-01 11:12 +0100
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-01 12:36 +0200
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-01 14:26 -0700
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-04 02:34 -0700
                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 12:40 +0100
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-04 14:35 +0200
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 14:18 +0100
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-04 15:47 +0200
                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-04 15:57 +0200
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-04 16:27 +0200
                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 16:46 +0100
                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-04 20:15 +0200
                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-04 20:54 +0200
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 20:29 +0100
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 14:06 -0700
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 22:47 +0100
                                                                      Famous (hopefully last) words [on this topic] Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-05 00:27 +0200
                                                                        Re: Famous (hopefully last) words [on this topic] Bad Post <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-05 01:20 +0100
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 16:09 -0700
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-05 00:44 +0100
                                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 17:26 -0700
                                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-05 12:58 +0000
                                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2026-06-05 14:27 -0700
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-05 02:47 +0000
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-05 00:53 -0700
                                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-05 11:04 +0100
                                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-05 05:34 -0700
                                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-06 03:45 +0000
                                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-06 03:44 +0000
                                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-06 07:39 +0200
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 15:25 -0700
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-05 09:29 +0200
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-05 12:39 +0100
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-05 15:42 +0200
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-05 16:50 +0100
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-05 11:09 -0700
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-05 20:29 +0100
                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-04 16:18 +0000
                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 17:23 +0100
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-04 16:47 +0000
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 19:57 +0100
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-04 20:34 +0000
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-04 22:28 +0100
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-04 21:58 +0000
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> - 2026-06-04 23:25 +0100
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-05 02:49 +0000
                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-04 19:47 +0200
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-04 21:04 +0200
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2026-06-04 19:13 +0000
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-05 10:34 +0200
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 12:11 -0700
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-06-04 16:33 -0400
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 14:16 -0700
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-05 00:02 +0000
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 18:36 -0700
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-05 02:54 +0000
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-05 05:49 -0700
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-05 11:01 -0700
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-05 11:53 -0700
                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2026-06-04 18:45 +0000
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-04 20:19 +0000
                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-04 20:31 +0000
                                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-04 20:41 +0000
                                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-04 20:49 +0000
                                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-05 00:03 +0000
                                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-05 00:18 +0000
                                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-05 03:02 +0000
                                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-05 14:04 +0000
                                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-06 03:49 +0000
                                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-06 15:13 +0000
                                                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-06 17:53 +0000
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-04 11:59 -0700
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-04 15:21 +0200
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-04 06:38 -0700
                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-01 09:52 +0200
                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-01 02:42 -0700
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-01 12:50 +0200
                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-01 11:47 +0100
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-01 12:55 +0200
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-01 14:39 -0700
                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-01 15:11 -0700
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-02 08:41 +0200
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 02:07 -0700
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-02 11:38 +0200
                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 05:01 -0700
                                                              It is not futile to change the subject line (Was: this girl calls c ugly) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-06-02 12:39 +0000
                                                                Re: It is not futile to change the subject line (Was: this girl calls c ugly) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-06-02 12:42 +0000
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-02 11:46 +0200
                                                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-02 11:09 +0100
                                                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 05:25 -0700
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-02 14:20 +0100
                                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 15:12 -0700
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-02 04:16 -0700
                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-01 15:23 -0700
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-06-01 16:06 -0700
                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-01 23:24 +0100
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-06-02 11:35 +0200
                                                    Operator precedence in other (non-C, but "C-like") languages (Was: something about a girl) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-06-02 12:36 +0000
                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-01 11:04 +0000
                                                  Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-01 14:04 +0200
                                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-01 18:48 +0000
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-01 21:04 +0100
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-02 09:17 +0200
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-02 09:09 +0200
                                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-06-02 12:07 +0000
                                                          Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-06-02 14:37 +0200
                                                          Microcontroller software stacks (was Re: this girl calls c ugly) scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-06-02 15:06 +0000
                                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-06-04 03:58 -0700
                                                Re: this girl calls c ugly dave_thompson_2@comcast.net - 2026-06-06 19:02 -0400
                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-05-31 19:11 +0000
                                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-05-31 16:08 -0700
                                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2026-05-31 16:32 -0700
                                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-05-31 17:12 -0700
                          Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-30 14:07 +0200
                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 18:10 +0200
                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 19:18 +0100
                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 22:17 +0200
                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-29 21:47 +0100
                    Re: this girl calls c ugly James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2026-05-29 15:57 -0400
                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-29 22:34 +0200
                  Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-29 23:18 +0000
                    Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-30 01:26 +0100
                      Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-30 04:25 +0000
                        Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-30 12:01 +0100
                          Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-31 00:29 +0000
                            Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-05-31 10:59 +0100
                              Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-01 00:33 +0000
                                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-06-01 02:26 +0100
                            Re: this girl calls c ugly David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-05-31 13:24 +0200
            Re: this girl calls c ugly Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 08:09 +0200
              Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 04:15 -0500
                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2026-05-29 14:58 +0200
                  Re: this girl calls c ugly BGB <cr88192@gmail.com> - 2026-05-30 01:04 -0500
              Re: this girl calls c ugly Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-29 23:20 +0000
                Re: this girl calls c ugly Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2026-05-30 11:18 +0200

Page 7 of 17 — ← Prev page 1 … 5 6 [7] 8 9 … 17  Next page →


#399902 — Re: Constants and undefined behavior

FromJanis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com>
Date2026-06-11 17:34 +0200
SubjectRe: Constants and undefined behavior
Message-ID<110ekic$1naub$6@dont-email.me>
In reply to#399884
On 2026-06-11 08:56, David Brown wrote:
> On 10/06/2026 23:47, Keith Thompson wrote:
>> [...]
>>
>> #include <stdio.h>
>> int main(void) {
>>      bool keep_going = true;
>>      while (keep_going) {
>>          keep_going = true;
>>      }
>>      puts("never reached");
>> }
>>
>> [...]
> 
> [...]
> 
> The loop might originally have contained source code, but become empty 
> through pre-processing, or from other compiler transformations (such as 
> the compiler seeing that the "keep_going" variable is not volatile and 
> its value is never used, so assignments to it can be elided, or moving 
> other things outside the loop body).
> 
> A programmer /could/ write the "keep_going" loop you gave, and 
> mistakenly believe it to be infinite.  But is it likely? 

I think we should not make any assumptions about the "creativity" of a
programmer ("C" or else). - Semantics should be well defined, and then
clear to the programmer.

> In my 
> experience, infinite loops are generally very clearly written - either 
> as "for (;;)" loops or "while (true)" loops - or they are the result of 
> bugs in the code that accidentally run forever.  If the loop is 
> accidentally infinite, the programmer will already be expecting it to 
> run the code after the loop.
> 
> [...]
> 
> So while I agree that this kind of thing can lead to curiosities and 
> behaviour that seems counter-intuitive, and is popular with the "modern 
> compilers are evil" crowd, I really do not see it as an issue in 
> practice.  There are many other mistakes programmers can make, or UB 
> that they hit accidentally - this is a drop in the ocean IMHO.

Languages shall be sensibly and clearly defined. For bad designs (or
bad standards) the language or standard should be blamed, and not the
critics badly and inappropriately despised as ''"modern compilers are
evil" crowd''. - Programmers are at the final end of the "food chain".
And there's a lot of horrible pits in the C-language where programmers
"made the mistake" to fall in; don't blame them, neither the ones who
silently suffer nor the ones who shout out.

Janis

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#399903 — Re: Constants and undefined behavior

FromJanis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com>
Date2026-06-11 17:45 +0200
SubjectRe: Constants and undefined behavior
Message-ID<110el6r$1nauc$7@dont-email.me>
In reply to#399864
On 2026-06-10 16:37, Dan Cross wrote:
>> [...]
> Here's a C version with the same behavior:
> 
> ```
> term% cat weird.c
> #include <stdio.h>
> 
> int
> main(void)
> {
>          for (unsigned int k = 0; k != 1; k += 2)
>                  ;
> 	return 0;
> }
> 
> void
> hello(void)
> {
>          printf("Hello, World!\n");
> }
> term% clang --version
> clang version 22.1.6
> Target: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
> Thread model: posix
> InstalledDir: /usr/bin
> term% clang -Wall -pedantic -O1 -std=c23 -o weird weird.c
> term% ./weird
> Hello, World!
> term%
> ```

Wow, that's really fascinating! (In a bad sense.)

And (in clang) just an effect of the '-O1' (as I notice).

I may have missed the "programming language design" wisdom of the
past decades. Back then we had the conception that "optimization"
is a method to transform a program to a _functionally equivalent_
code (one that is faster, requires less memory, or some such).

Janis

> [...]

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#399872 — Re: Constants and undefined behavior

FromTim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Date2026-06-10 15:11 -0700
SubjectRe: Constants and undefined behavior
Message-ID<86ldcm82ql.fsf@linuxsc.com>
In reply to#399815
cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:

> In article <86tsrc8d0b.fsf@linuxsc.com>,
> Tim Rentsch  <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:
>[...]
>> The C standard doesn't need to say that, for example, a
>> function x() other than main(), whose name is never referenced,
>> will never be called.  If someone wants to establish that x() could
>> be called, there needs to be a chain of reasoning going through the
>> semantic descriptions given in the C standard, to show that a call
>> to x() could occur.
>
> Actually, no, a reference to a function is not necessary.  A
> couple of years ago, a well-publicized issue in a C++ compiler a
> couple of years ago was something along the lines of this:
> [...]

This is comp.lang.c.  My comments were only about C, and not
about C++.  But of course you already knew that.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#399873 — Re: Constants and undefined behavior

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-06-10 22:44 +0000
SubjectRe: Constants and undefined behavior
Message-ID<110cpca$gl2$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#399872
In article <86ldcm82ql.fsf@linuxsc.com>,
Tim Rentsch  <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:
>cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>
>> In article <86tsrc8d0b.fsf@linuxsc.com>,
>> Tim Rentsch  <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:
>>[...]
>>> The C standard doesn't need to say that, for example, a
>>> function x() other than main(), whose name is never referenced,
>>> will never be called.  If someone wants to establish that x() could
>>> be called, there needs to be a chain of reasoning going through the
>>> semantic descriptions given in the C standard, to show that a call
>>> to x() could occur.
>>
>> Actually, no, a reference to a function is not necessary.  A
>> couple of years ago, a well-publicized issue in a C++ compiler a
>> couple of years ago was something along the lines of this:
>> [...]
>
>This is comp.lang.c.  My comments were only about C, and not
>about C++.  But of course you already knew that.

I see you did not read the other messages in the (sub)thread,
but ok, here it is again, in C:

```
term% cat what.c
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) { for (unsigned int k = 0; k != 1; k += 2); return 0; }
void hello(void) { printf("Hello, World!\n"); }
term% clang --version | sed 1q
clang version 22.1.6
term% clang -Wall -pedantic -pedantic-errors -O1 -std=c23 -o what what.c
what.c:2:58: warning: for loop has empty body [-Wempty-body]
    2 | int main(void) { for (unsigned int k = 0; k != 1; k += 2); return 0; }
      |                                                          ^
what.c:2:58: note: put the semicolon on a separate line to silence this warning
1 warning generated.
term% ./what
Hello, World!
term% 
```

	- Dan C.

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#399874 — Re: Constants and undefined behavior

FromKeith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-10 16:19 -0700
SubjectRe: Constants and undefined behavior
Message-ID<110cre9$13aa9$1@kst.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#399873
cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
[...]
> I see you did not read the other messages in the (sub)thread,
> but ok, here it is again, in C:
>
> ```
> term% cat what.c
> #include <stdio.h>
> int main(void) { for (unsigned int k = 0; k != 1; k += 2); return 0; }
> void hello(void) { printf("Hello, World!\n"); }
> term% clang --version | sed 1q
> clang version 22.1.6
> term% clang -Wall -pedantic -pedantic-errors -O1 -std=c23 -o what what.c
> what.c:2:58: warning: for loop has empty body [-Wempty-body]
>     2 | int main(void) { for (unsigned int k = 0; k != 1; k += 2); return 0; }
>       |                                                          ^
> what.c:2:58: note: put the semicolon on a separate line to silence this warning
> 1 warning generated.
> term% ./what
> Hello, World!
> term% 
> ```

I see the same behavior.

The following largely repeats what I've written previously in
this thread.

Apparently the authors of clang decided that this statement in N3220
6.8.6.p4:

    An iteration statement may be assumed by the implementation to
    terminate if its controlling expression is not a constant
    expression, ...

means that a program that violates that assumption has undefined
behavior.  I intensely dislike both the rule and the way it's stated,
but I agree that the conclusion that the behavior is undefined is
a reasonable one.

Of course since the behavior is undefined, *anything* could happen.
I don't know what happened inside clang (or the minds of its
maintainers) that caused it to generate code that executes a
statement in the body of a function that's never called, but that's
just one of the infinitely many allowed behaviors.  A quick look at the
generated code indicates that there's no x86-64 "retq" instruction
for either main() or hello(), and apparently control falls through
from the end of main() to the body of hello().  That seems weird.

It might just be a bug (but not one that, as far as I can tell,
violates the C standard).

A function whose body contains a construct that would have undefined
behavior if the function were called (not the case here) does not
cause undefined behavior if there are no calls to the function.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#399896 — Re: Constants and undefined behavior

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-06-11 11:50 +0000
SubjectRe: Constants and undefined behavior
Message-ID<110e7dc$s4$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#399874
In article <110cre9$13aa9$1@kst.eternal-september.org>,
Keith Thompson  <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> wrote:
>cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>[...]
>> I see you did not read the other messages in the (sub)thread,
>> but ok, here it is again, in C:
>>
>> ```
>> term% cat what.c
>> #include <stdio.h>
>> int main(void) { for (unsigned int k = 0; k != 1; k += 2); return 0; }
>> void hello(void) { printf("Hello, World!\n"); }
>> term% clang --version | sed 1q
>> clang version 22.1.6
>> term% clang -Wall -pedantic -pedantic-errors -O1 -std=c23 -o what what.c
>> what.c:2:58: warning: for loop has empty body [-Wempty-body]
>>     2 | int main(void) { for (unsigned int k = 0; k != 1; k += 2); return 0; }
>>       |                                                          ^
>> what.c:2:58: note: put the semicolon on a separate line to silence this warning
>> 1 warning generated.
>> term% ./what
>> Hello, World!
>> term% 
>> ```
>
>I see the same behavior.
>
>The following largely repeats what I've written previously in
>this thread.
>
>Apparently the authors of clang decided that this statement in N3220
>6.8.6.p4:
>
>    An iteration statement may be assumed by the implementation to
>    terminate if its controlling expression is not a constant
>    expression, ...
>
>means that a program that violates that assumption has undefined
>behavior.  I intensely dislike both the rule and the way it's stated,
>but I agree that the conclusion that the behavior is undefined is
>a reasonable one.

I think the behavior is technical "unspecified" in the sense of
the C standard, but yes, this is the important bit.  The
controlling expresion is not constant, and the loop doesn't meet
any of the other criteria set forth in sec 6.8.6 para 4 for,
therefore, the translator may assume it terminates (it is
unspecified whether or not it does; either behavior is correct.
GCC, for example, appears not to make the same assumption).

>Of course since the behavior is undefined, *anything* could happen.
>I don't know what happened inside clang (or the minds of its
>maintainers) that caused it to generate code that executes a
>statement in the body of a function that's never called, but that's
>just one of the infinitely many allowed behaviors.  A quick look at the
>generated code indicates that there's no x86-64 "retq" instruction
>for either main() or hello(), and apparently control falls through
>from the end of main() to the body of hello().  That seems weird.

Here's a slightly better version of `what.c` (that removes the
annoying "loop is body, move the semicolon to the next line"
warning):

```
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) { unsigned int k = 0; while (k != 1) k += 2; return 0; }
void hello(void) { printf("Hello, World!\n"); }
```

I think the reasoning goes something like this: in optimization
phase $n$, the compiler determines that `k` can never be 1, and
thus the loop does not terminate, and therefore, `return 0;` is
inaccessible, so it's removed.  Then, in phase $n + k$, for
$k>0$, it applies the rules of sec 6.8.6 para 4, assumes that
the loop must terminate, and therefore can be removed, and
removes it.  The `return` is already gone.  So what you're left
with is an label that just cascades into whatever is next in
object code; that just happens to be `hello`.

>It might just be a bug (but not one that, as far as I can tell,
>violates the C standard).

It's known.  It was known when first reported a couple of years
ago in the C++ context, and I suspect they know about it now.  I
can ask someone who works on LLVM.  I suspect the reasoning will
be that this is important to guarantee forward progress, and
that they can't solve the halting problem, therefore such loops
can be removed.  If that causes your program to do something
weird, then, well, don't do that.

>A function whose body contains a construct that would have undefined
>behavior if the function were called (not the case here) does not
>cause undefined behavior if there are no calls to the function.

True, but irrelevant to the point I was making, which is that UB
can induce a "call" to a function, even without a reference to
it appearing in the source text.

	- Dan C.

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#399618

FromKeith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-02 05:35 -0700
Message-ID<10vmimv$2tjoi$3@kst.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#399608
Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> writes:
> On 2026-06-01 00:54, Keith Thompson wrote:
>>> [...]
>> Yes, a compiler can reduce (a + b) * 0 to just 0.  But it's not
>> required to do so, and (INT_MAX + 1) * 0 still has undefined
>> behavior.  Undefined behavior is determined by the rules of the
>> abstract machine *without* any adjustments permitted by the as-if
>> rule.
>
> This is something I really don't get in the actual C-logic...
>
> Using constants that can be determined at compile time is UB here,
> despite the '* 0' mathematically indicating an IMO clear semantics,
> but using variables is only UB possibly at runtime? And despite all
> that the latter might not even get triggered because it's probably
> optimized away? - I can't help, this sounds really crude.
>
> Is there any rationale from the _software designer_'s perspective?

In the abstract machine, every operator and subexpression is
evaluated (barring things like "||", "&&", and "?:").  (INT_MAX + 1)
has undefined behavior due to overflow, therefore any expression
that has (INT_MAX + 1) as a subexpression has undefined behavior.

Replacing (expr * 0) by 0 is an optimization, and optimizations
are *optional*.  A naive implementation could generate code that
peforms the addition and the muliplication by 0; if the addition
traps, it traps.

Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:

    case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:

must be diagnosed at compile time.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#399625

FromTim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Date2026-06-02 06:29 -0700
Message-ID<86ecipcbqa.fsf@linuxsc.com>
In reply to#399618
Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:

> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>
>     case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>
> must be diagnosed at compile time.

gcc disagrees with you.

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#399628

FromDavid Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no>
Date2026-06-02 16:10 +0200
Message-ID<10vmo8n$2ruaa$3@dont-email.me>
In reply to#399625
On 02/06/2026 15:29, Tim Rentsch wrote:
> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
> 
>> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
>> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>>
>>      case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>>
>> must be diagnosed at compile time.
> 
> gcc disagrees with you.

My testing shows all versions of gcc that I tested on godbolt gave a 
warning, even without any options.  I don't believe that INT_MAX can 
have any type suffixes that would avoid the overflow.

What version of gcc and/or flags let that case label pass without a 
diagnostic?

(I don't know if Keith is correct about it being a constraint violation 
- I have not looked at the details there.)


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#399652

FromKeith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-02 15:29 -0700
Message-ID<10vnlgu$382un$2@kst.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#399625
Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
>> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>>
>>     case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>>
>> must be diagnosed at compile time.
>
> gcc disagrees with you.

What makes you think so?

$ cat c.c
#include <limits.h>
int main(void) {
    switch (0) {
        case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
            break;
    }
}
$ gcc -std=c17 -pedantic-errors -c c.c
c.c: In function ‘main’:
c.c:4:23: warning: integer overflow in expression of type ‘int’ results in ‘-2147483648’ [-Woverflow]
    4 |         case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
      |                       ^
c.c:4:9: error: overflow in constant expression [-Woverflow]
    4 |         case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
      |         ^~~~
$ 

But taking a closer look at the standard, I'm not 100% sure that the
language requires a diagnostic, though I think that's the intent.
The relevant constraint is:

    Each constant expression shall evaluate to a constant that is
    in the range of representable values for its type.

If I squint really hard, I can argue that the entire expression
has to be a constant expression, but it doesn't say that its
subexpressions are constant expressions -- and *if* INT_MAX +
1 evaluates to INT_MIN in the current implementation, then
(INT_MAX + 1) * 0 evaluates to 0 and therefore satisfies the
constraint.

But INT_MAX + 1 could legally trap, for example, and I don't believe
it was intended that a given expression can be a constant expression
or not depending on the vagaries of the behavior of an instance
of UB.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#399748

FromTim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Date2026-06-05 06:41 -0700
Message-ID<86bjdpayv0.fsf@linuxsc.com>
In reply to#399652
Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:

> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>
>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
>>> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>>>
>>>     case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>>>
>>> must be diagnosed at compile time.
>>
>> gcc disagrees with you.
>
> What makes you think so?
>
> [...]

I'm skipping this and proceeding on to the original question.

> But taking a closer look at the standard, I'm not 100% sure that the
> language requires a diagnostic, though I think that's the intent.
> The relevant constraint is:
>
>     Each constant expression shall evaluate to a constant that is
>     in the range of representable values for its type.
>
> If I squint really hard, I can argue that the entire expression
> has to be a constant expression, but it doesn't say that its
> subexpressions are constant expressions -- and *if* INT_MAX +
> 1 evaluates to INT_MIN in the current implementation, then
> (INT_MAX + 1) * 0 evaluates to 0 and therefore satisfies the
> constraint.

My reasoning is as follows.

To determine if the constraint is satisfied, the compiler must
first evaluate the expression (INT_MAX + 1) * 0.

To evaluate the expression (INT_MAX + 1) * 0, the compiler must
first evaluate the sub-expression (INT_MAX + 1).

Because the expression (INT_MAX + 1) overflows, the behavior is
undefined, and the compiler is free to decide that the value of
the sub-expression (INT_MAX + 1) is, let's say, 12.

The compiler next evaluates the overall expression as 12*0, which
is 0 (an int).

This result of the overall expression satisfies the constraint,
and so the compiler is not obliged to generate a diagnostic.

Going back, when evaluating (INT_MAX + 1), the compiler could
have decided to choose the value 3.14159e47.  In that case the
value of the overall expression would be 0.0.  This value has
type double, which does not satisfy the constraint that the
result have integer type.  Thus if the compiler had made this
decision then a diagnostic would be required.

Overall conclusion:  whether a diagnostic is required depends on
what behavior is chosen for the construct (INT_MAX + 1).  The
implementation could choose a behavior where the constraint is
satisfied, or it could choose a behavior where the constraint is
not satisfied.

> But INT_MAX + 1 could legally trap, for example, and I don't
> believe it was intended that a given expression can be a constant
> expression or not depending on the vagaries of the behavior of an
> instance of UB.

I see no basis for this belief.  My conclusions are based on what
the C standard actually says, rather than guesses about some
unstated "intentions".  I think you would do well to reach your
conclusions based more on the actual text of the C standard, and
less on your interpretation of what the text was "intended" to
mean.

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#399756

FromKeith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-05 11:24 -0700
Message-ID<10vv49k$1aoa2$4@kst.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#399748
Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>>> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
>>>> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>>>>
>>>>     case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>>>>
>>>> must be diagnosed at compile time.
>>>
>>> gcc disagrees with you.
>>
>> What makes you think so?
>>
>> [...]
>
> I'm skipping this and proceeding on to the original question.

Why?

You made a statement, "gcc disagrees with you".  I demonstrated,
in text that you snipped, that gcc does in fact agree with me.
You were wrong.  I don't know the basis of your error, so I asked.
Or maybe I'm missing something, and you had a valid point that I
didn't understand.

You're not required to answer my question, which I think was
an extremely reasonable one, but quoting it and then explicitly
refusing to answer it is pointlessly rude.

I'd like to know whether you still think you were right.  If so,
I'd like to see your explanation.  If not, an admission that you
made a mistake would be appreciated.  But I expect neither from you.

[SNIP]

> I see no basis for this belief.  My conclusions are based on what
> the C standard actually says, rather than guesses about some
> unstated "intentions".  I think you would do well to reach your
> conclusions based more on the actual text of the C standard, and
> less on your interpretation of what the text was "intended" to
> mean.

The actual text of the standard implies that 42 is not an expression.
I rely on the obvious intent to conclude that it is.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#399791

FromTim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Date2026-06-08 08:35 -0700
Message-ID<86y0gp82pd.fsf@linuxsc.com>
In reply to#399756
Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:

> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>
>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
>>>>> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>>>>>
>>>>>     case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>>>>>
>>>>> must be diagnosed at compile time.
>>>>
>>>> gcc disagrees with you.
>>>
>>> What makes you think so?
>>>
>>> [...]
>>
>> I'm skipping this and proceeding on to the original question.
>
> Why?

gcc is not authoritative.  I didn't want to get into an argument
about whether gcc is conforming, or which version of gcc was used,
or any similar distractions.  The C standard /is/ authoritative,
and I thought it would save time to cut to the chase.

> You made a statement, "gcc disagrees with you".  I demonstrated,
> in text that you snipped, that gcc does in fact agree with me.

No, you didn't.

> You were wrong.

No, I wasn't.  Your testing was faulty.

> I don't know the basis of your error, so I asked.
> Or maybe I'm missing something, and you had a valid point that I
> didn't understand.

I'm offended that you think I have an obligation to remedy your
habit of lazy thinking, especially when as here the answer was
staring you right in the face, and you simply ignored it.

> You're not required to answer my question, which I think was
> an extremely reasonable one, but quoting it and then explicitly
> refusing to answer it is pointlessly rude.

I wasn't refusing to answer.  What I was doing was trying to
answer the original question, and answer it in a way that wouldn't
get lost in pointless bickering.  Silly me.

> I'd like to know whether you still think you were right.  If so,
> I'd like to see your explanation.  If not, an admission that you
> made a mistake would be appreciated.  But I expect neither from you.

I'd like to know why you ignored my explanation, based directly on
text from the C standard, about why an implementation is allowed to
process the code in question, without giving a diagnostic, and
still be conforming.  An explanation that Dan Cross agreed with,
even if he may not like the consequences.

In investigating this question, I have run compilations using
multiple versions of gcc, on two different platforms.  I have looked
carefully through the gcc man page.  I have also run compilations
using multiple versions of clang, on two different platforms.  After
doing all that, I ran compilations using godbolt, so I could check
the latest, or maybe almost latest, versions of gcc and clang.  All
the different versions of gcc and clang that I have tried support my
hypothesis that gcc (and now also clang) interpret the C standard so
as to conclude that conforming to the C standard need not require a
diagnostic for situations like the code under discussion..

I'd like to ask you to do two things.  First, read through the
reasoning given in my previous post, try to assess whether that
reasoning is sound, and post the results of yours contemplations.
Second, look again at the question of whether gcc (and also clang,
if you're up to it) support the hypothesis that a conforming
implementation need not give a diagnostic for code like that under
discussion.  See if you can find a way of framing the question that
supports my statement, rather than simply looking for one that
supports your preconceived ideas.  Post the results of your
investigations, both what other experiments you tried, and what your
assessment is of the results you got.

Do these two things and I will endeavor to explain my views on the
questions you have raised here, if such explanations are still
needed after your further examinations and comments.

> [SNIP]
>
>> I see no basis for this belief.  My conclusions are based on what
>> the C standard actually says, rather than guesses about some
>> unstated "intentions".  I think you would do well to reach your
>> conclusions based more on the actual text of the C standard, and
>> less on your interpretation of what the text was "intended" to
>> mean.
>
> The actual text of the standard implies that 42 is not an expression.
> I rely on the obvious intent to conclude that it is.

Now it is you who is changing the subject.  Besides not being on
point to the question being considered, it's a silly argument, and I
would hope you are smart enough to realize that.  However, if you do
what I have asked in the previous paragraph, I can try to explain
why I think your views on this unrelated matter are wrongheaded.

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#399795

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-06-08 17:33 +0000
Message-ID<1106udm$jmf$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#399791
In article <86y0gp82pd.fsf@linuxsc.com>,
Tim Rentsch  <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:
>Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>>
>>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
>>>>>> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> must be diagnosed at compile time.
>>>>>
>>>>> gcc disagrees with you.
>>>>
>>>> What makes you think so?
>>>>
>>>> [...]
>>>
>>> I'm skipping this and proceeding on to the original question.
>>
>> Why?
>
>gcc is not authoritative.

You, Tim, wrote the words, "gcc disagrees with you."

If you didn't want to bring GCC into it, because it is not
authoritative (which is true), then why did you mention it in
the first place?

>I didn't want to get into an argument
>about whether gcc is conforming, or which version of gcc was used,
>or any similar distractions.

You opened that door and walked through it.

>The C standard /is/ authoritative,
>and I thought it would save time to cut to the chase.

Then you should have done that from the start, and not mentioned
GCC.

>> [snip]
>> I'd like to know whether you still think you were right.  If so,
>> I'd like to see your explanation.  If not, an admission that you
>> made a mistake would be appreciated.  But I expect neither from you.
>
>I'd like to know why you ignored my explanation, based directly on
>text from the C standard, about why an implementation is allowed to
>process the code in question, without giving a diagnostic, and
>still be conforming.  An explanation that Dan Cross agreed with,
>even if he may not like the consequences.

I am mystified as to why you are bringing my name into this, and
why you think "I may not like the consequences", or even what
that means.  In any event, you are evidently laboring under some
assumption about what I think about this matter that is probably
incorrect.

Because I am not you, I cannot know this for a fact, let alone
why it may be.  Regardless, I suggest you don't do that, or at a
minimum seek clarity from the referent of your assumptions,
before making claims about they may think.

>In investigating this question, I have run compilations using
>multiple versions of gcc, on two different platforms.  I have looked
>carefully through the gcc man page.  I have also run compilations
>using multiple versions of clang, on two different platforms.  After
>doing all that, I ran compilations using godbolt, so I could check
>the latest, or maybe almost latest, versions of gcc and clang.  All
>the different versions of gcc and clang that I have tried support my
>hypothesis that gcc (and now also clang) interpret the C standard so
>as to conclude that conforming to the C standard need not require a
>diagnostic for situations like the code under discussion..

It appears that you are appealing to a certain kind of semantic
precision, that is itself based on a number of assumptions that
are unstated, but that are implicit in your writing.  Further,
you give every indication of believing that a reader should
simply intuitively know.

In fact, both GCC and clang (the versions I tried on the
platforms I tried on) emit a diagnostic for the code under
consideration.  Your assertion appears to be that that is
unrelated to the constraint in section 6.6 para 4, which seems
accurate.

But you did not say that: instead, you just made a vague
statement that "gcc disagrees with you."  That's not useful, and
no one can reasonably know what you meant unless you elaborated
on it.

When it was pointed out to you that in fact GCC generates a
diagnostic, you had an opportunity to clarify that it was not in
response to the aforementioned constraint violation.  You chose
not to do so, and instead of arrogantly accuse others of
laziness and a lack of willingness to understand.

Insisting that your readers adhere to some arbitrary level of
semantic precision you seem to fancy yourself expressing is not
actually a sign of true expertise.  Real expertise is most
readily demonstrated through effective communication.

>I'd like to ask you to do two things.  First, read through the
>reasoning given in my previous post, try to assess whether that
>reasoning is sound, and post the results of yours contemplations.
>
>Second, look again at the question of whether gcc (and also clang,
>if you're up to it) support the hypothesis that a conforming
>implementation need not give a diagnostic for code like that under
>discussion.  See if you can find a way of framing the question that
>supports my statement, rather than simply looking for one that
>supports your preconceived ideas.  Post the results of your
>investigations, both what other experiments you tried, and what your
>assessment is of the results you got.
>
>Do these two things and I will endeavor to explain my views on the
>questions you have raised here, if such explanations are still
>needed after your further examinations and comments.

It is rather cavalier to make imperative statements to others
regarding how they must spend their time.

>> [SNIP]
>>
>>> I see no basis for this belief.  My conclusions are based on what
>>> the C standard actually says, rather than guesses about some
>>> unstated "intentions".  I think you would do well to reach your
>>> conclusions based more on the actual text of the C standard, and
>>> less on your interpretation of what the text was "intended" to
>>> mean.
>>
>> The actual text of the standard implies that 42 is not an expression.
>> I rely on the obvious intent to conclude that it is.
>
>Now it is you who is changing the subject.  Besides not being on
>point to the question being considered, it's a silly argument, and I
>would hope you are smart enough to realize that.  However, if you do
>what I have asked in the previous paragraph, I can try to explain
>why I think your views on this unrelated matter are wrongheaded.

Is it a silly argument?

Perhaps Keith has some reason for suggesting that such an
interpretation is be valid.  I'm not aware of what that might
be, but I suspect you are not, either.  But without even knowing
what the argument is, how would you know?

You are the one admonishing others to look at the letter of the
standard ("My conclusions are based on what the C standard
actually says..."), yet here you dismiss as "a silly argument",
a thing brought up by someone who has demonstrated that they
generally know what they're talking about, and you have done so
without even bothering to ask what they might be refering to.

In fact, I think this fits a pattern of behavior I observe from
you fairly consistently.  You decide on an interpretation,
declare it correct, and appear to scoff at anyone else who does
not immediately share that interpretation as being "lazy" or
worse.

Ironically, you yourself do not do well when you are shown to be
wrong about something; cf your bizarre statement about Rust not
being strongly typed.  This does not do well for your
credibility; everyone makes mistakes now and again, and you are
no different, but your seeming inability to admit to it when it
is obvious decreases faith in your interpretations when they are
not obvious.

You would do well to express more humility, and consider how
others might perceive you based on the way you talk to them.

	- Dan C.

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#399807

FromTim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Date2026-06-09 00:54 -0700
Message-ID<86pl2087z3.fsf@linuxsc.com>
In reply to#399795
cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:

> In article <86y0gp82pd.fsf@linuxsc.com>,
> Tim Rentsch  <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:

[...]

>> I'd like to know why you ignored my explanation, based directly on
>> text from the C standard, about why an implementation is allowed to
>> process the code in question, without giving a diagnostic, and
>> still be conforming.  An explanation that Dan Cross agreed with,
>> even if he may not like the consequences.
>
> I am mystified as to why you are bringing my name into this, and
> why you think "I may not like the consequences", or even what
> that means.  In any event, you are evidently laboring under some
> assumption about what I think about this matter that is probably
> incorrect.

In a response to another posting of mine, you wrote this:

> But as it happens, I think I can see how your interpretation may
> be valid:  if, as a result of UB, the expression evaluates to "0"
> (or 12 or something simiilar) that _is_ representable, then
> there _is no constraint violation_ and so no diagnostic is
> required.
> 
> I do not believe that that is the intent.  But it _is_
> conformant with the text of the standard.

I based my statement that begins "An explanation that Dan Cross
agreed with, ..." on those two paragraphs.

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#399813

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-06-09 10:08 +0000
Message-ID<1108om9$89f$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#399807
In article <86pl2087z3.fsf@linuxsc.com>,
Tim Rentsch  <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:
>cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>
>> In article <86y0gp82pd.fsf@linuxsc.com>,
>> Tim Rentsch  <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>>> I'd like to know why you ignored my explanation, based directly on
>>> text from the C standard, about why an implementation is allowed to
>>> process the code in question, without giving a diagnostic, and
>>> still be conforming.  An explanation that Dan Cross agreed with,
>>> even if he may not like the consequences.
>>
>> I am mystified as to why you are bringing my name into this, and
>> why you think "I may not like the consequences", or even what
>> that means.  In any event, you are evidently laboring under some
>> assumption about what I think about this matter that is probably
>> incorrect.
>
>In a response to another posting of mine, you wrote this:
>
>> But as it happens, I think I can see how your interpretation may
>> be valid:  if, as a result of UB, the expression evaluates to "0"
>> (or 12 or something simiilar) that _is_ representable, then
>> there _is no constraint violation_ and so no diagnostic is
>> required.
>> 
>> I do not believe that that is the intent.  But it _is_
>> conformant with the text of the standard.
>
>I based my statement that begins "An explanation that Dan Cross
>agreed with, ..." on those two paragraphs.

Nothing in those two paragraphs asserts that I am unhappy with
the consequences; I neither like nor dislike the "consequences."
I simply don't think that was the intent of people who wrote the
standard.

Before asserting a subjective interpretation of what someone
else feels about a thing, you should seek to clarify if what you
intent to say is accurate.  Better yet, just don't do it.  And
of course, what I think about the matter is irrelevant to what
you wrote to Keith, which I found sufficiently distasteful that
I rather wish you hadn't mentioned my name in it at all.

The rest of my earlier response stands.

	- Dan C.

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#399798

FromKeith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-08 13:40 -0700
Message-ID<11079cs$3grso$1@kst.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#399791
Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>>> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>>>>> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>> Note that in a context that requires a constant expression, overflow is
>>>>>> a constraint violation.  For example, a case label like:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> must be diagnosed at compile time.
>>>>>
>>>>> gcc disagrees with you.
>>>>
>>>> What makes you think so?
>>>>
>>>> [...]
>>>
>>> I'm skipping this and proceeding on to the original question.

What question?  I made a statement.

>> Why?
>
> gcc is not authoritative.  I didn't want to get into an argument
> about whether gcc is conforming, or which version of gcc was used,
> or any similar distractions.  The C standard /is/ authoritative,
> and I thought it would save time to cut to the chase.

I never said gcc is authoritative.  *You* brought gcc into the
discussion.

It is a fact that gcc issues a diagnostic for that case label.
It is a fact that it's a non-fatal warning with "-pedantic" and a
fatal error with "-pedantic-errors", which implies, as I understand
it, that the authors of gcc believe that the diagnostic is required
by the standard.

>> You made a statement, "gcc disagrees with you".  I demonstrated,
>> in text that you snipped, that gcc does in fact agree with me.
>
> No, you didn't.

Yes, I did.

>> You were wrong.
>
> No, I wasn't.  Your testing was faulty.

Yes, you were.  My testing was not faulty.

What exactly did you mean by "gcc disagrees with you"?  I
think it's sufficiently obvious that gcc does not have opinions,
so you presumably were speaking figuratively in some sense.
Do you not see the same diagnostic I saw?

>> I don't know the basis of your error, so I asked.
>> Or maybe I'm missing something, and you had a valid point that I
>> didn't understand.
>
> I'm offended that you think I have an obligation to remedy your
> habit of lazy thinking, especially when as here the answer was
> staring you right in the face, and you simply ignored it.

OK.  I'm offended by your superior attitude.  I'm offended by your
refusal to consider that you might have made a mistake.  I'm offended
by your refusal to explain what you meant by an unclear statement
after I repeatedly ask you to do so.  I'm offended by your apparent
assumption that if the rest of us just *think really hard*, we'll
inevitably agree with you.

>> You're not required to answer my question, which I think was
>> an extremely reasonable one, but quoting it and then explicitly
>> refusing to answer it is pointlessly rude.
>
> I wasn't refusing to answer.  What I was doing was trying to
> answer the original question, and answer it in a way that wouldn't
> get lost in pointless bickering.  Silly me.

I'm assuming that by "the original question", you're referring to my
*statement* that a diagnostic is required for the above case label.
If you have some other "original question" in mind, please specify
it.  Please do not insult me by assuming that I'll know exactly
what you mean if I just reread what you wrote and think hard enough.

If you were trying to answer the "original question", you failed.
You expressed your supposed disagrement by asserting, without
further explanation, that gcc disagrees with me -- when, in fact,
it does not, and when gcc's behavior is not directly relevant to
the original statement anyway (since, as you correctly point out,
gcc is not authoritative).

>> I'd like to know whether you still think you were right.  If so,
>> I'd like to see your explanation.  If not, an admission that you
>> made a mistake would be appreciated.  But I expect neither from you.
>
> I'd like to know why you ignored my explanation, based directly on
> text from the C standard, about why an implementation is allowed to
> process the code in question, without giving a diagnostic, and
> still be conforming.  An explanation that Dan Cross agreed with,
> even if he may not like the consequences.

That explanation is not relevant to your claim that gcc disagrees
with me, which is what I asked you about.

> In investigating this question, I have run compilations using
> multiple versions of gcc, on two different platforms.  I have looked
> carefully through the gcc man page.  I have also run compilations
> using multiple versions of clang, on two different platforms.  After
> doing all that, I ran compilations using godbolt, so I could check
> the latest, or maybe almost latest, versions of gcc and clang.  All
> the different versions of gcc and clang that I have tried support my
> hypothesis that gcc (and now also clang) interpret the C standard so
> as to conclude that conforming to the C standard need not require a
> diagnostic for situations like the code under discussion..

You've told us what you concluded from your compilations using godbolt.
You haven't told us what those compilations actually told you.

On the off chance that you're willing to answer a straightforward
question:

Here's one result I got on my system:

$ gcc16 --version | head -n 1
gcc16 (GCC) 16.1.0
$ cat c.c
#include <limits.h>
int main(void) {
    switch(0) {
        case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
            break;
    }
}
$ gcc16 -std=c23 -pedantic-errors -c c.c
c.c: In function ‘main’:
c.c:4:23: warning: integer overflow in expression of type ‘int’ results in ‘-2147483648’ [-Woverflow]
    4 |         case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
      |                       ^
c.c:4:9: error: overflow in constant expression [-Woverflow]
    4 |         case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:
      |         ^~~~
$

gcc emitted a fatal error message on that case label.  Have you
seen any version of gcc, either on your system or on godbolt,
*not* issue a fatal error message when invoked on that source with
"-std=cNN -pedantic-errors" (NN=23, or any valid value you like)?
If so, have you seen it not at least issue a warning?

If not, what is the basis for your claim that gcc disagrees with me?

It's conceivable that what you meant is that gcc happens to issue
a diagnostic, but is not required to.  If so, then (a) that's
sufficiently subtle that any reasonable person would have explained
that point, and (b) given that gcc produces a diagnostic, I see no
basis to assume that gcc "thinks" it's not required to do so.

> I'd like to ask you to do two things.  First, read through the
> reasoning given in my previous post, try to assess whether that
> reasoning is sound, and post the results of yours contemplations.
> Second, look again at the question of whether gcc (and also clang,
> if you're up to it) support the hypothesis that a conforming
> implementation need not give a diagnostic for code like that under
> discussion.  See if you can find a way of framing the question that
> supports my statement, rather than simply looking for one that
> supports your preconceived ideas.  Post the results of your
> investigations, both what other experiments you tried, and what your
> assessment is of the results you got.

You made a very simple claim, that gcc disagrees with me.  I'm asking
you about *that statement*.  Do you still assert that gcc disagrees
with me?  (That is not a question about the C standard.)

> Do these two things and I will endeavor to explain my views on the
> questions you have raised here, if such explanations are still
> needed after your further examinations and comments.
>
>> [SNIP]
>>
>>> I see no basis for this belief.  My conclusions are based on what
>>> the C standard actually says, rather than guesses about some
>>> unstated "intentions".  I think you would do well to reach your
>>> conclusions based more on the actual text of the C standard, and
>>> less on your interpretation of what the text was "intended" to
>>> mean.
>>
>> The actual text of the standard implies that 42 is not an expression.
>> I rely on the obvious intent to conclude that it is.
>
> Now it is you who is changing the subject.  Besides not being on
> point to the question being considered, it's a silly argument, and I
> would hope you are smart enough to realize that.  However, if you do
> what I have asked in the previous paragraph, I can try to explain
> why I think your views on this unrelated matter are wrongheaded.

Please be less condescending.

Leaving gcc aside, my original statement was that a case label like:

    case (INT_MAX + 1) * 0:

is a constraint violation (and therefore that it requires a diagnostic).
It's possible that I'm mistaken on that point.  The constraint I claim
it violates is that "Each constant expression shall evaluate to a
constant that is in the range of representable values for its type."

We could have discussed that much more briefly if you hadn't dragged
gcc into it.

I acknowledge that it can also be reasonably argued that the
expression as a whole *can*, for a particular implementation, yield
a result of 0, and therefore that a diagnostic is not required *for
such an implementation*.

The committee response to C90 DR #031 contradicts that argument:

    case (INT_MAX*4)/4: is a constraint violation.
    When subclause 6.4 says on page 55, lines 11-12:

        Each constant expression shall evaluate to a constant that is in the
        range of representable values for its type.

    the Committee's judgement of the intent is that the
    ``representable'' requirement applies to each subexpression of
    a constant expression, as shown in the third example. A constant
    expression is meant as defined by the syntax rules.

My judgement of the intent agrees with the Committee's, and, as
far as I can tell, with gcc's.

(I do think that the wording in the standard could and should be
improved.)

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#399799 — Meaning of "expression"

FromKeith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-08 14:05 -0700
SubjectMeaning of "expression"
Message-ID<1107aq2$3grso$2@kst.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#399756
Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
[...]
> The actual text of the standard implies that 42 is not an expression.
> I rely on the obvious intent to conclude that it is.

I made the above statement to demonstrate that just following the exact
wording of the standard, without thinking about the (sometimes unclear)
intent behind it, can lead to absurd results.

I've discussed this particular glitch before, but it's been a while.

N3220 6.5.1 says:

    An *expression* is a sequence of operators and operands that
    specifies computation of a value, or that designates an object
    or a function, or that generates side effects, or that performs
    a combination thereof.

I believe the wording is unchanged from C90 up to the latest C202y
draft.  Since the word "expression" is in italics, this is the
standard's definition of the word.

This is a flawed definition.  The terms "operator" and "operand"
are defined in 6.4.6:

    *punctuator: one of
        [ ] ( )
    [snip]
    
    A punctuator is a symbol that has independent syntactic and semantic
    significance. Depending on context, it may specify an operation to
    be performed (which in turn may yield a value or a function
    designator, produce a side effect, or some combination thereof) in
    which case it is known as an *operator* (other forms of operator also
    exist in some contexts). An *operand* is an entity on which an
    operator acts.

Consider this expression statement:

    42;

Is `42` an expression?  Clearly it's intended to be, but there is no
operator, and therefore there is no operand, so it doesn't meet the
standard's definition of the word "expression".

For that matter, consider:

    (void)0;

It's "obvious" that `(void)0` is an expression.  It consists of one
operator `(void)` and one operand `0` (I'll ignore the fact that
the definition uses plurals for both), but it does not specify
computation of a value, or designate an object or a function,
or generates side effects, or perform a combination thereof.

The fact that the standard's definition of "expression" is flawed is
not much of a problem in practice.  Virtually everyone, implementers
and programmers, assumes the obvious intent.  Nobody believes that
`42` isn't an expression.  But it is my strongly held opinion that
the wording should be improved in a future edition of the standard.

I think it should say something to the effect that the meaning
of the term "expression" is defined by the grammar.  The current
wording that claims to be the definition of the term could, with
a few tweaks, still be turned into a valid normative statement
*about* expressions.

I have a similar issue with the standard's definition of "value":
"precise meaning of the contents of an object when interpreted as
having a specific type".  It's obvious that the result of evaluating
a non-void expression (such as the infamous `42`) is a "value",
but the definition implies that a "value" can only be the meaning
of the contents of an object.  Nobody is actually misled by the
current definition, but it should be improved.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#399820 — Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression")

FromJanis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com>
Date2026-06-09 15:17 +0200
SubjectExpression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression")
Message-ID<11093p9$1nauc$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#399799
On 2026-06-08 23:05, Keith Thompson wrote:
> [...]
> I've discussed this particular glitch before, but it's been a while.
> 
> N3220 6.5.1 says:
> 
>      An *expression* is a sequence of operators and operands that
>      specifies computation of a value, or that designates an object
>      or a function, or that generates side effects, or that performs
>      a combination thereof.
> 
> I believe the wording is unchanged from C90 up to the latest C202y
> draft.  Since the word "expression" is in italics, this is the
> standard's definition of the word.
> 
> This is a flawed definition.  The terms "operator" and "operand"
> are defined in 6.4.6:
> 
>      *punctuator: one of
>          [ ] ( )
>      [snip]
>      
>      A punctuator is a symbol that has independent syntactic and semantic
>      significance. Depending on context, it may specify an operation to
>      be performed (which in turn may yield a value or a function
>      designator, produce a side effect, or some combination thereof) in
>      which case it is known as an *operator* (other forms of operator also
>      exist in some contexts). An *operand* is an entity on which an
>      operator acts.
> 
> Consider this expression statement:
> 
>      42;
> 
> Is `42` an expression?  Clearly it's intended to be, but there is no
> operator, and therefore there is no operand, so it doesn't meet the
> standard's definition of the word "expression".

Above you used the term "expression statement", and then compare the
"42" to an "expression".

I know from my earlier C-days that '42;' is a valid statement, and so
the term "expression statement" makes sense to me.

I know from various languages' syntax definitions that a number like
'42' is a sensible form for an expression (and no operators required).
It's also depending on the context. Where expressions may be written
(and where not) depends on the concrete language; syntactically and
also semantically.

Usually I'd expect above "expression-statement" to serve some purpose,
semantically. I don't recall that in "C" such an expression-statement
would serve any purpose. (Or that they'd show any observable behavior,
if that term fits the C-parlance better?)

Or do these stand-alone values (the "expression-statement") have some
practically useful semantics?

In other languages such stand-alone values serve a purpose; e.g. they
may determine the result value of a block that can then be used in an
outer context; but in "C" such constructs are obviously not possible.

What purpose serve such stand-alone numbers in places where statements
are expected?

> [...]
> 
> The fact that the standard's definition of "expression" is flawed is
> not much of a problem in practice.  Virtually everyone, implementers
> and programmers, assumes the obvious intent.  Nobody believes that
> `42` isn't an expression.  But it is my strongly held opinion that
> the wording should be improved in a future edition of the standard.
> 
> I think it should say something to the effect that the meaning
> of the term "expression" is defined by the grammar.  The current
> wording that claims to be the definition of the term could, with
> a few tweaks, still be turned into a valid normative statement
> *about* expressions.
> 
> I have a similar issue with the standard's definition of "value":
> "precise meaning of the contents of an object when interpreted as
> having a specific type".  It's obvious that the result of evaluating
> a non-void expression (such as the infamous `42`) is a "value",
> but the definition implies that a "value" can only be the meaning
> of the contents of an object.  Nobody is actually misled by the
> current definition, but it should be improved.

Janis

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#399821 — Re: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression")

FromBart <bc@freeuk.com>
Date2026-06-09 14:53 +0100
SubjectRe: Expression statements (was Re: Meaning of "expression")
Message-ID<11095su$1obc$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#399820
On 09/06/2026 14:17, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
> On 2026-06-08 23:05, Keith Thompson wrote:
>> [...]
>> I've discussed this particular glitch before, but it's been a while.
>>
>> N3220 6.5.1 says:
>>
>>      An *expression* is a sequence of operators and operands that
>>      specifies computation of a value, or that designates an object
>>      or a function, or that generates side effects, or that performs
>>      a combination thereof.
>>
>> I believe the wording is unchanged from C90 up to the latest C202y
>> draft.  Since the word "expression" is in italics, this is the
>> standard's definition of the word.
>>
>> This is a flawed definition.  The terms "operator" and "operand"
>> are defined in 6.4.6:
>>
>>      *punctuator: one of
>>          [ ] ( )
>>      [snip]
>>      A punctuator is a symbol that has independent syntactic and semantic
>>      significance. Depending on context, it may specify an operation to
>>      be performed (which in turn may yield a value or a function
>>      designator, produce a side effect, or some combination thereof) in
>>      which case it is known as an *operator* (other forms of operator 
>> also
>>      exist in some contexts). An *operand* is an entity on which an
>>      operator acts.
>>
>> Consider this expression statement:
>>
>>      42;
>>
>> Is `42` an expression?  Clearly it's intended to be, but there is no
>> operator, and therefore there is no operand, so it doesn't meet the
>> standard's definition of the word "expression".
> 
> Above you used the term "expression statement", and then compare the
> "42" to an "expression".
> 
> I know from my earlier C-days that '42;' is a valid statement, and so
> the term "expression statement" makes sense to me.
> 
> I know from various languages' syntax definitions that a number like
> '42' is a sensible form for an expression (and no operators required).
> It's also depending on the context. Where expressions may be written
> (and where not) depends on the concrete language; syntactically and
> also semantically.
> 
> Usually I'd expect above "expression-statement" to serve some purpose,
> semantically. I don't recall that in "C" such an expression-statement
> would serve any purpose. (Or that they'd show any observable behavior,
> if that term fits the C-parlance better?)
> 
> Or do these stand-alone values (the "expression-statement") have some
> practically useful semantics?
> 
> In other languages such stand-alone values serve a purpose; e.g. they
> may determine the result value of a block that can then be used in an
> outer context; but in "C" such constructs are obviously not possible.
> 
> What purpose serve such stand-alone numbers in places where statements
> are expected?

I think it is just difficult for the syntax to ban certain expressons 
and not others. How would you express that in the grammar?

If you ramp up the warnings, then you'll get messages like 'statement 
with no effect' or 'computed value not used', since sometimes there are 
side-effects that are needed:

    f() + g();

f() and g() both do something, but nothing is done with their sum.

In my projects, such standalone expressions are always a hard error. The 
main exceptions include (using C syntax):

    f();
    ++a;
    a = b;

These are expressions that can return values, but that can sensibly be 
used standalone too. (I don't support value-returning compound assignments.)

(I first introduced this check because in the past, if I'd been writing 
some C, I might write 'a = b' instead of 'a := b'. The first does 
nothing (compares then discards result), but it is not what I'd intended.)

Anyway, I don't have it as a syntax violation either.

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