Re: in place swap of float types

Subject	Re: in place swap of float types
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
References	<slrnqmaoja.4b2.3queens@cpe-65-25-200-198.new.res.rr.com> <9ddbme52b398c5lrr1c653lvdo2oe7qbv5@4ax.com>
From	Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org>
Message-ID	<m8k9F.345486$1b5.47191@fx37.iad> (permalink)
Organization	Forte - www.forteinc.com
Date	2019-08-27 17:45 -0700

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On 8/27/19 3:59 PM, Robert Wessel wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Aug 2019 17:03:38 -0000 (UTC), 3queens@shabbyroad.com
> wrote:
> 
>> Some time ago, there was a thread concerning using "a^=b; b^=a; a^=b" 
>> to do an in place swap of two variables of the same size.  It was
>> pointed out that this can only be done with integer types.  I found a
>> way to do it with floating point types as well.
>>
>> Declare a union with the floating point variable and an equally long
>> integer variable.  Then use the integer member to do the exclusive-or
>> process.
>>
>> Naturally, this would not be efficient if the data had to be copied into
>> and out of the union, but if the variables were defined as unions to
>> begin with, this would work.
>>
>> Maybe not that useful, but if space is really tight, perhaps useful in
>> some situations.
> 
> 
> AFAIK, this invokes undefined behavior.  You cannot reliably read from
> a different member of a union than was written to.
> 
The standard says:

If the member used to read the contents of a union object is not the
same as the member last used to store a value in the object, the
appropriate part of the object representation of the value is
reinterpreted as an object representation in the new type as described
in 6.2.6 (a process sometimes called “type punning”). This might be a
trap representation.

(Foot Note 97 to 6.5.2.3 p3)

So, to the extent that the representations are defined, the behavior is
defined. If the integral type is an unsigned type with no padding bits,
and thus no trap representation, and of size at least as big as the
other type, then there can be no undefined behavior.

Note also, that having the union of the floating point type and the
unsigned type in scope does mean that some optimizations based on the
non-aliasing of those types can't be done, as the presence of the union
warns that such aliasing might legitimately exist.

Thread

in place swap of float types 3queens@shabbyroad.com - 2019-08-27 17:03 +0000
  Re: in place swap of float types Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2019-08-27 19:22 +0000
    Re: in place swap of float types Andrew Smallshaw <andrews@sdf.org> - 2019-09-02 15:25 +0000
      Re: in place swap of float types Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2019-09-02 19:37 +0000
        Re: in place swap of float types Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-09-03 06:37 -0700
          Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-03 16:13 +0200
            Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-09-03 16:54 +0100
              Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-04 11:19 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-09-04 02:35 -0700
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-04 12:31 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-09-04 12:12 +0100
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-04 15:53 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-09-04 07:17 -0700
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-05 15:12 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2019-09-05 21:11 +0100
                Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-09-04 16:30 +0100
                Re: in place swap of float types jadill33@gmail.com - 2019-09-04 10:26 -0700
                Re: in place swap of float types Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2019-09-05 06:00 +0000
                Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-09-05 11:14 +0100
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-05 14:54 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-09-05 15:48 +0100
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-06 10:35 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-09-06 02:52 -0700
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-06 13:18 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-09-06 12:14 +0100
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-06 15:08 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-09-06 06:23 -0700
                Re: in place swap of float types Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2019-09-04 14:16 -0700
                Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-09-04 22:42 +0100
                Re: in place swap of float types Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2019-09-04 15:21 -0700
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-05 15:15 +0200
              Re: in place swap of float types Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2019-09-04 08:05 -0600
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-05 15:17 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2019-09-05 20:28 -0600
                Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-06 10:39 +0200
                Re: in place swap of float types Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2019-09-06 08:11 -0600
                Re: in place swap of float types scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-09-06 18:31 +0000
          Re: in place swap of float types Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2019-09-04 19:02 +0000
      Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-02 22:16 +0200
  Re: in place swap of float types Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2019-08-27 17:59 -0500
    Re: in place swap of float types Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2019-08-27 17:45 -0700
    Re: in place swap of float types James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2019-08-27 20:48 -0400
      Re: in place swap of float types Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2019-09-03 06:17 -0700
    Re: in place swap of float types Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2019-08-28 02:09 +0100
    Re: in place swap of float types Siri Cruise <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2019-08-27 21:26 -0700
    Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-08-28 09:22 +0200
    Re: in place swap of float types Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2019-08-28 16:36 -0700
  Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-08-28 09:36 +0200
    Re: in place swap of float types Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2019-08-28 12:02 +0100
      Re: in place swap of float types James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2019-08-28 05:08 -0700
        Re: in place swap of float types Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-08-28 05:26 -0700
        Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-08-28 14:40 +0200
        Re: in place swap of float types Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2019-08-28 13:01 -0700
    Re: in place swap of float types Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2019-09-04 11:18 +0200
      Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-04 12:57 +0200
        Re: in place swap of float types Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2019-09-04 13:24 +0200
  Re: in place swap of float types Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2019-09-05 08:18 +0200
    Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-05 15:19 +0200
      Re: in place swap of float types Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2019-09-05 16:18 +0200
        Re: in place swap of float types Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-09-05 07:32 -0700
          Re: in place swap of float types Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2019-09-05 17:32 +0200
          Re: in place swap of float types David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2019-09-06 10:54 +0200
            Re: in place swap of float types Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2019-09-06 14:23 +0200

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