Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!think!snorkelwacker!spdcc!ima!haddock!karl
From: karl@haddock.ima.isc.com (Karl Heuer)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: () ignored in some expressions
Message-ID: <16440@haddock.ima.isc.com>
Date: 11 Apr 90 17:03:44 GMT
References: <48079@lanl.gov> <1272@sdrc.UUCP> <1458@tkou02.enet.dec.com>
Reply-To: karl@haddock.ima.isc.com (Karl Heuer)
Organization: Interactive Systems, Cambridge, MA 02138-5302
Lines: 13

In article <1458@tkou02.enet.dec.com> diamond@tkou02.enet.dec.com (diamond@tkovoa) writes:
>In article <1272@sdrc.UUCP> scjones@sdrc.UUCP (Larry Jones) writes:
>>ANSI C requires that all expressions be evaluated as
>>written.  Thus for "a + b + c" the compiler must add a and b
>>first, then add c to the result.
>
>No.  For "a + b + c", the compiler may add a + c, then add b

No, since `+' associates left to right, `a+b+c' and `(a+b)+c' are equivalent.
It's a common myth that parens apply some type of magic binding, but all they
do is specify the parse tree.

Karl W. Z. Heuer (karl@ima.ima.isc.com or harvard!ima!karl), The Walking Lint