Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior

From	David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no>
Newsgroups	comp.compilers
Subject	Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior
Date	2019-05-07 15:05 +0200
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<19-05-047@comp.compilers> (permalink)
References	(11 earlier) <19-05-024@comp.compilers> <19-05-025@comp.compilers> <19-05-028@comp.compilers> <19-05-032@comp.compilers> <19-05-039@comp.compilers>

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On 06/05/2019 15:40, Andy Walker wrote:
> On 06/05/2019 01:15, our esteemed moderator wrote:
>> [In the struct { int a,b,c,d; } S example it is my understanding that
>> &S and &S.a
>> have to be the same,
>
>     Not "the same", as they have different types;  but yes, they must
> compare equal.
>

No they don't - not in C.  They are incompatible pointers, and comparing
them is a constraint violation.  That means a compiler has to complain
about trying to evaluate "&S == &S.a".

[My draft of C11 says in section 6.7.2.1: "A pointer to a structure
object, suitably converted, points to its initial member (or if that
member is a bit-field, then to the unit in which it resides), and vice
versa. There may be unnamed padding within a structure object, but not
at its beginning." -John]

If you don't like that behaviour, then maybe standard C is not the
It also means that even though the values of the pointers may be the
same, using one to access the data of the other is not valid - and the
compiler can assume it does not happen.

If you don't like that behaviour, then maybe standard C is not the
language you want.  There are plenty of C compilers that will let you
mix and match pointers and accesses despite incompatible types (you
still need appropriate casts) - such as using the "-fno-strict-alias"
flag in gcc.  But you have to actively choose the non-standard C.

>>                the four ints have to be in the order declared,
>
>     Yes, and they must be "sequentially allocated".  Whether that means
> the same as "contiguously allocated" [like array members] is not entirely
> clear, as the C Standard doesn't define these terms.  Structures can
> contain
> padding, in general, but [AFAICT] not in a way that affects this debate.

There are no restrictions on the padding that can be added between
fields in a struct.  A conforming compiler /can/ add extra padding, and
it can be inconsistent between different parts.  So for the four-int
struct here, "a" could be at offset 0, "b" at offset 4 (assuming 4-byte
int), "c" at offset 12, and "d" at offset 60.  Clearly such an
arrangement would be highly inefficient and it would take a particularly
perverse compiler writer to do anything other than the obvious 4 ints in
a row.  But the only requirements of C are that the first field is at
offset 0, and subsequent fields are at increasing offsets.

A conceivable case is that a compiler could add padding in a struct
beyond the requirements of alignment if cache line alignment made the
results faster.  Such padding can't be added in arrays.

> At least it seems to be the case that &S.a+1 must compare equal to &S.b,
> see N1570, section 6.5.9 para 6, and footnote 109;  but I can't quite make
> even this case watertight.
>

It is 6.5.9p7 that makes this comparison legal.  The wording here is a
bit odd (no one claims the C standards are always clear), but it means
that S.a and S.b can be views as single-element arrays of 1 int.  And
thus &S.a + 1 is a pointer to just beyond the end of S.a, and will
compare equal to &S.b if there is no padding.  (There /could/ be
padding, but it is quite unlikely.)

And even if "&S.a + 1 == &S.b" is true, and "&S.b + 1 == &S.c" is true,
evaluating "&S.a + 2 == &S.c" is undefined behaviour.

You might not agree that these rules are good in a language, but these
are the rules of C.

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Re: Optimization techniques David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-04-25 21:58 +0200
  Re: Optimization techniques Kaz Kylheku <847-115-0292@kylheku.com> - 2019-04-26 00:18 +0000
    Re: Optimization techniques David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-04-28 23:49 +0200
      Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-04-29 00:31 +0100
        Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-04-29 17:08 +0200
          Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> - 2019-04-29 18:10 +0200
            Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-04-30 14:46 +0200
              Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-01 13:53 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2019-05-02 11:29 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-03 00:48 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Martin Ward <martin@gkc.org.uk> - 2019-05-03 10:52 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2019-05-04 17:44 -0400
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2019-05-05 17:10 -0400
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-06 08:14 +0200
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2019-05-11 22:25 -0700
                Re: not a lot of memory, was Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-03 12:45 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2019-05-03 13:29 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-03 23:10 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2019-05-04 10:45 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-05 11:14 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2019-05-05 20:44 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2019-05-06 10:15 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 11:04 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior "Nuno Lopes" <nuno.lopes@ist.utl.pt> - 2019-05-07 22:38 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-08 01:14 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-08 09:55 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior "Derek M. Jones" <derek@_NOSPAM_knosof.co.uk> - 2019-05-08 19:08 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2019-05-08 01:42 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-08 10:16 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-09 01:15 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-09 21:56 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-08 10:03 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-09 09:19 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Kaz Kylheku <847-115-0292@kylheku.com> - 2019-05-10 03:38 +0000
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-08 14:37 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Christopher F Clark <christopher.f.clark@compiler-resources.com> - 2019-05-06 05:05 -0400
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2019-05-05 17:38 -0400
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-06 13:07 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 14:01 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2019-05-06 01:15 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2019-05-06 14:40 +0100
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 15:05 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-08 10:18 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Jan Ziak <0xe2.0x9a.0x9b@gmail.com> - 2019-05-06 05:39 -0700
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 15:42 +0200
                Re: Bounds checking, Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-06 16:32 +0200
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2019-05-04 17:59 -0400
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-02 16:51 +0200
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-02 20:04 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-03 17:23 +0200
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-03 21:10 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Martin Ward <martin@gkc.org.uk> - 2019-05-06 13:25 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior "Derek M. Jones" <derek@_NOSPAM_knosof.co.uk> - 2019-05-06 16:32 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 16:03 +0200
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Martin Ward <martin@gkc.org.uk> - 2019-05-08 13:16 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2019-05-08 15:13 -0400
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior "Robin Vowels" <robin51@dodo.com.au> - 2019-05-07 01:22 +1000
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 16:05 +0200
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> - 2019-05-02 22:22 +0200
          Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-04-29 18:15 +0100
            Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-04-30 15:48 +0200
              Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-01 12:40 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-02 17:27 +0200
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-02 18:59 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 16:16 +0200
              Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Martin Ward <martin@gkc.org.uk> - 2019-05-02 14:54 +0100
      Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2019-04-29 22:36 +0200
        Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 16:29 +0200
          Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2019-05-08 02:27 +0200
            Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-08 10:31 +0200
              Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2019-05-08 22:50 +0200
              Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks "Robin Vowels" <robin51@dodo.com.au> - 2019-05-11 19:26 +1000
              Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2019-05-11 22:43 -0700
                Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-12 20:17 +0200
          Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-08 14:58 +0100
            Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-08 23:02 +0200
              Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-05-09 18:28 +0100
                Re: Optimization techniques and runtime checks David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-09 22:07 +0200
      Re: Optimization techniques Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2019-04-30 18:24 -0700
        Re: Optimization techniques David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-01 09:20 +0200
          Re: Optimization techniques Kaz Kylheku <847-115-0292@kylheku.com> - 2019-05-02 17:40 +0000
          Re: Optimization techniques and error detection Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2019-05-03 10:16 -0700
          Re: Optimization techniques "Robin Vowels" <robin51@dodo.com.au> - 2019-05-07 01:42 +1000
  Re: Optimization techniques Kaz Kylheku <847-115-0292@kylheku.com> - 2019-04-26 02:26 +0000
    Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-04-29 00:12 +0200
      Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior Kaz Kylheku <847-115-0292@kylheku.com> - 2019-05-02 17:18 +0000
        Re: Optimization techniques and undefined behavior David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-05-07 16:38 +0200

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