Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!auspex!guy
From: guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Another silly question
Message-ID: <1648@auspex.auspex.com>
Date: 18 May 89 16:53:32 GMT
References: <17812@cup.portal.com> <2336@Portia.Stanford.EDU>
Reply-To: guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris)
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara
Lines: 26

>	When "+" denotes simple (ie int/float/etc) arithmetic, the
>	operation commutes; when it denotes pointer arithmetic,
>	commutation is not legal/meaningful.

Funny, X3J11 disagrees with you:

	3.3.6 Additive operators

	...

	Semantics

	...

	...In other words, if the expression "P" pointers to the "i"th
	element of an array object, the expressions "(P)+N"
	(equivalently, "N+(P)")...

>	The statement that *(a+i) == *(i+a) is therefore invalid.

The statement that "The statement that *(a+i) == *(i+a) is therefore
invalid" is therefore invalid.

It may make life miserable for compiler writers, but if so they should
have lobbied X3J11; it's probably too late now - go forth and fix your
compiler, if it can't cope with "i[a]".