Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Why is it allowed to eliminate the branch? In most architectures abs(INT_MIN) returns INT_MIN which is negative



Calling abs(INT_MIN) on twos-complement machine is not allowed by the C standard. The behavior of abs() is undefined if the result would not fit in the return value.


Where does it say that? I thought this was a famous example from formal methods showing why something really simple could be wrong. It would be strange for the standard to say to ignore it. The behavior is also well defined in two’s complement. People just don’t like it.


https://busybox.net/~landley/c99-draft.html#7.20.6.1

"The abs, labs, and llabs functions compute the absolute value of an integer j. If the result cannot be represented, the behavior is undefined. (242)"

242 The absolute value of the most negative number cannot be represented in two's complement.


I didn't believe this so I looked it up, and yup.

Because of 2's complement limitations, abs(INT_MIN) can't actually be represented and it ends up returning INT_MIN.


It's possible that there is an edge case in the output bounds here. I'm just using it as an example.

Replace it with "int x = foo() ? 1 : 2;" if you want.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: