C and C++ prioritize performance over correctness (2023)
a year ago
- #Undefined Behavior
- #C++
- #Performance
- C and C++ prioritize performance over correctness, leading to undefined behaviors that can break programs unexpectedly.
- Examples include uninitialized variables, arithmetic overflow, infinite loops, and null pointer usage, where compilers optimize based on undefined behavior assumptions.
- The C++ standards committee has resisted defining behaviors like signed integer overflow to maintain optimization potential, despite correctness concerns.
- Undefined behaviors in C and C++ have shifted from being non-portability issues to optimization opportunities, impacting debuggability and correctness.
- The trade-off between performance and correctness in C and C++ is clear, with performance often prioritized even at the cost of program stability and security.