Xref: utzoo comp.lang.c:12532 comp.lang.fortran:1082
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!phri!marob!samperi
From: samperi@marob.MASA.COM (Dominick Samperi)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.lang.fortran
Subject: C associativity rules
Keywords: associativity, expressions
Message-ID: <412@marob.MASA.COM>
Date: 13 Sep 88 01:22:14 GMT
Organization: ESCC  New York City
Lines: 14

Does K&R C or the new ANSI C permit the compiler to evaluate an expression
like a+b+c in any order it pleases, rather than in the strict left-to-right
order (a+b)+c ? I've always assumed that a strict left-to-right order would
be used, as is the case for relational expressions like the one in the
following.
		while(i != -1 && a[i] != k)
			whatever ;

Apparently FORTRAN permits the compiler to evaluate the expression in any order
it pleases, for optimization purposes.
-- 
Dominick Samperi, NYC
    samperi@acf8.NYU.EDU	samperi@marob.MASA.COM
    cmcl2!phri!marob        	uunet!hombre!samperi
      (^ ell)