CompuServe Messages

The bug you're referring to wasn't anywhere near as simple as you suggest – the operators used in the expression, the types of the variables involved, and what was on the left hand side of the expression (i.e., was it an =, a +=, etc.) all played a part in that bug. That is the problem with compiler bugs – there are an unbelievable number of combinations of ways to do things. C is especially prone to compiler bugs because the language allows people to do things in so many different ways. To the person who encounters a bug, it may seem like "wow this is so obvious, how could that ever slip through". But that's not at all true – there are literally _millions_ of different unique expressions you can come up with in C, and it's just not feasible to sit down and test every single one. Try maintaining a C compiler some day, and you'll understand the size of the problem in trying to test it. -Mike