dmr (01/31/83)
A couple of years ago I changed my C compiler not to throw out 0*x, 0&x, and the like where x is an expression with side effects. I believed then and now that anyone who depended on such things was mad, and the recent examples have not convinced me otherwise. However, it was much easier to change the compiler than to attempt to argue the implausibility of each carefully crafted example. This is known in the trade as "covering your ass." The change occurred post-v7 so it is not visible outside Bell. Dennis Ritchie