Discussion
What is the output of this C code?
int main()
{
int a = 10;
if (a == a--)
printf("TRUE 1\t");
a = 10;
if (a == --a)
printf("TRUE 2\t");
}
Answer: C
Correct answer: TRUE 1 TRUE 2
Both comparisons read a in one operand while modifying it in the other, with no sequence point between, so both are formally undefined behaviour. The expression modifies a variable more than once, and reads it as well, with no sequence point in between. The C standard makes that undefined behaviour, so the answer listed is what one common compiler happens to produce - another compiler, or another optimisation level, may give something else, and no program should depend on it. What the question is really illustrating is that a == a-- and a == --a cannot be reasoned about at all - not that one is true and the other false.
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