The Little Bool of Doom
4 hours ago
- #Fedora Linux
- #DOOM
- #C Programming
- The article discusses a compilation error encountered during a Fedora Linux mass rebuild related to the game DOOM.
- The error was due to a clash between custom boolean type definitions in the game's code and new C23 standard keywords.
- Three potential solutions were considered: downgrading the C standard, modifying the code to use built-in boolean types, or renaming enum values.
- The chosen solution involved modifying the code to use built-in boolean types when in C23 mode, which initially seemed successful.
- Further investigation revealed that using _Bool type led to unexpected behavior due to undefined behavior when handling invalid boolean values.
- The issue was traced back to memory initialization with -1, which is not a valid _Bool value, causing both true and false conditions to pass.
- The article concludes by highlighting the importance of understanding undefined behavior in C programming.