Re: failure due to compiler?

gah@u.washington.edu (G. Herrmannsfeldt) writes:
> I think my usual favorite, though I can't remember any exact examples,
> are ones that give the right answer only when extra debugging code is
> added, or when using a debugger.


Assertions are a feature of the OO language Eiffel and are sold heavily as
part of the Eiffel philosophy. Also many C++ programmers use macros to
implement assertions.


However, as expressions in C++ (and Eiffel) may have side effects, turning
assertion checking off may alter the behaviour of the program. One Eiffel
user I know claims to have experienced this perplexing behaviour. His
program worked as expected until he turned assertion checking off!


This is more a failure in language design than in compiler writing.
However I find it amusing since assertions (and invariants) are promoted
as a safety feature of languages.


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Dara Gallagher. http://www.cs.tcd.ie/www/jgllgher/jgllgher.html
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