www.digitalmars.com         C & C++   DMDScript  

digitalmars.D.bugs - [Issue 8757] New: Require parenthesization of ternary operator when compounded

reply d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757

           Summary: Require parenthesization of ternary operator when
                    compounded
           Product: D
           Version: D2
          Platform: All
        OS/Version: All
            Status: NEW
          Severity: enhancement
          Priority: P2
         Component: DMD
        AssignedTo: nobody puremagic.com
        ReportedBy: bearophile_hugs eml.cc



In past we have discussed in the D newsgroups about the bug-prone precedence of
the ?: operator. Analysis of shared code repositories (and articles about
static code analysis) shows that this is a common source of bugs. So I suggest
to look for wasy to avoid/reduce such bugs in D code.

One of the possible ideas is (this is a small breaking change): when the ?: is
included in a larger expression, require parentheses around it.

auto x1 = y1 ? z1 : w1; // OK
auto x2 = x0 + (y1 ? z1 : w1); // OK
auto x3 = (x0 + y1) ? z1 : w1; // OK
auto x4 = x0 + y1 ? z1 : w1; // Compilation error
auto x5 = y1 ? z1 : (y2 ? z2 : w2); // OK
auto x6 = y1 ? z1 : y2 ? z2 : w2; // Compilation error


In theory this increases the number of parentheses a little, but in practice in
many similar situations I already put those parentheses, for readability and to
avoid some of my mistakes.

Ideas for other solutions are welcome.

-- 
Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Oct 04 2012
next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757




From: http://www.viva64.com/en/examples-V502/

Some bugs caused by ternary operator usage in already tested and used code of
professionally-managed projects.

-----------------

Grid Control Re-dux

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '|' operator.


void CGridCtrlDemoDlg::UpdateMenuUI()
{
  ...
  GetMenu()->CheckMenuItem(IDC_HORZ_LINES, MF_BYCOMMAND |
    (bHorzLines)? MF_CHECKED: MF_UNCHECKED);
  GetMenu()->CheckMenuItem(IDC_LISTMODE, MF_BYCOMMAND |
    (m_Grid.GetListMode())? MF_CHECKED: MF_UNCHECKED);
  GetMenu()->CheckMenuItem(IDC_VERT_LINES, MF_BYCOMMAND |
    (bVertLines)? MF_CHECKED: MF_UNCHECKED);
  GetMenu()->EnableMenuItem(IDC_SINGLESELMODE, MF_BYCOMMAND |
    (m_Grid.GetListMode())? MF_ENABLED: MF_DISABLED|MF_GRAYED);
  .....
  GetMenu()->CheckMenuItem(ID_HIDE2NDROWCOLUMN,
    MF_BYCOMMAND |
    (m_bRow2Col2Hidden)? MF_CHECKED: MF_UNCHECKED);
  ...
}

This code is incorrect as the priority of '?:' operator is lower than of '|'.
The program works correctly because of MF_BYCOMMAND == 0. Nonetheless this code
is potentially dangerous.

-----------------

FCEUX

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '|' operator. fceux
memwatch.cpp 711


static BOOL CALLBACK MemWatchCallB(....)
{
  ...
  EnableMenuItem(memwmenu, MEMW_FILE_SAVE,
    MF_BYCOMMAND | fileChanged ? MF_ENABLED:MF_GRAYED);
  ...
}

It works because of sheer luck, since #define MF_BYCOMMAND 0x00000000L.

-----------------

IPP Samples

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '|' operator. vm vm_file_win.c
393


vm_file* vm_file_fopen(....)
{
  ...
  mds[3] = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL |
           (islog == 0) ? 0 : FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING;
  ...
}

0 is always written into mds[3]. Parentheses should be used: mds[3] =
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL | ((islog == 0) ? 0 : FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING).

-----------------

Newton Game Dynamics

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '*' operator. physics
dgminkowskiconv.cpp 1061


dgInt32 CalculateConvexShapeIntersection (....)
{
  ...
  den = dgFloat32 (1.0e-24f) *
        (den > dgFloat32 (0.0f)) ?
          dgFloat32 (1.0f) : dgFloat32 (-1.0f);
  ...
}

Identical errors can be found in some other places:

    V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was
expected. The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '*' operator. physics
dgminkowskiconv.cpp 1081

-----------------

Chromium

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '-' operator. views
custom_frame_view.cc 400


static const int kClientEdgeThickness;

int height() const;

bool ShouldShowClientEdge() const;

void CustomFrameView::PaintMaximizedFrameBorder(
  gfx::Canvas* canvas)
{
  ...
  int edge_height = titlebar_bottom->height() -
    ShouldShowClientEdge() ? kClientEdgeThickness : 0;
  ...
}

-----------------

OTS

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '+' operator. ots gdef.cc 278


bool version_2;

bool ots_gdef_parse(....)
{
  ...
  const unsigned gdef_header_end = static_cast<unsigned>(8) +
    gdef->version_2 ? static_cast<unsigned>(2) :
                      static_cast<unsigned>(0);
  ...
}

-----------------

ReactOS

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '+' operator. uniata id_dma.cpp
1610


VOID NTAPI
AtapiDmaInit(....)
{
  ...
  ULONG treg = 0x54 + (dev < 3) ? (dev << 1) : 7;
  ...
}

The "0x54 + (dev < 3)" condition is always true. This is the correct code:
ULONG treg = 0x54 + ((dev < 3) ? (dev << 1) : 7).

-----------------

Chromium

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '+' operator. rtp_rtcp
rtp_receiver_video.cc 480


WebRtc_Word32
RTPReceiverVideo::ReceiveH263Codec(....)
{
  ...
  if (IP_PACKET_SIZE < parsedPacket.info.H263.dataLength +
       parsedPacket.info.H263.insert2byteStartCode ? 2:0)
  ...
}

Parentheses should be used.

Identical errors can be found in some other places:

    V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was
expected. The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '+' operator.
rtp_rtcp rtp_receiver_video.cc 504

-----------------

MongoDB

V502 Perhaps the '?:' operator works in a different way than it was expected.
The '?:' operator has a lower priority than the '<<' operator. version.cpp 107


string sysInfo() {
  ....
  stringstream ss;
  ....
  ss << (sizeof(char *) == 8) ? " 64bit" : " 32bit";
  ....
}

A very nice sample. 0 or 1 will be printed instead of "32bit"/"64bit".

-----------------

-- 
Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Oct 21 2012
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757


Jonathan M Davis <jmdavisProg gmx.com> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |jmdavisProg gmx.com



PST ---
Any and all operators are bug-prone if you don't understand or remember their
precedence rules. If you want the extra protection against precedence
screw-ups, then use parens. But I don't see any reason to _require_ them. And
honestly, I would be ticked if code like

auto x4 = x0 + y1 ? z1 : w1;

became illegal. I would never use parens here, because I find the precedence
rules in this case to be very clear. This enhancement request is trying to
enforce a particular coding/formatting style, and I'm very much opposed to
that. The compiler shouldn't care how I format my code.

Feel free to use parens to guarantee the correct order of operations if you
don't feel confortable with the precedence rules in a particular expression,
but I don't want that forced on everyone.

-- 
Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jan 18 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757





 Any and all operators are bug-prone if you don't understand or remember their
 precedence rules. If you want the extra protection against precedence
 screw-ups, then use parens. But I don't see any reason to _require_ them.
I've shown that it's a common enough bug even for expert C/C++ programmers. So saying "I don't see any reason" is too much weak. To invalidate this enhancement request you have to show statistics that confirm your point. -- Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jan 19 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757




PST ---
I don't care if it solves half the bugs involving ternary operators that ever
happen. You're suggesting that we force programmers to format their code in a
particular way, and I object to that.

-- 
Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jan 19 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757





 I don't care if it solves half the bugs involving ternary operators that ever
 happen.
So you are saying that data in language design should be ignored?
 You're suggesting that we force programmers to format their code in a
 particular way, and I object to that.
C language has some design mistakes, like in its precedence rules. A well designed language, and one of the design principles of D, has to help the programmer avoid the most common bugs. D fixes some of the mistakes of C design. This is a "formatting forced by D", that has saved me few times: void main() { int x, y; auto z = x & 1 == y; } temp.d(3): Error: 1 == y must be parenthesized when next to operator & See also issue 5409 for something similar. You don't want to many parentheses in expressions, but few strategically placed ones are a small price to pay to save you code from common mistakes. Your words don't hold water, unless you show that adding a ( ) there harms readability or some other real coding quality. -- Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jan 19 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757


Dicebot <m.strashun gmail.com> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |m.strashun gmail.com



It is hard to add something like that because of backward compatibility issues
but I vote for this approaches. Personal formatting preferences mean nothing
compared with possibility to remove common source of bugs. And this one is
really common.

-- 
Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jan 19 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757




The Visual Studio 2012 warning:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms182085.aspx

-- 
Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jun 26 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757




PDT ---
Visual Studio is one of the worst compilers I've ever seen with regards to
warnings. It has tons of annoying, useless warnings which don't help one whit,
forcing you to shut them off. So, I would consider Visual Studio to be a
horrible example of what you should or shouldn't warn against. And I would put
any warning about operator precedence on the list of warnings that should be
removed. It subverts the language when you're forced to add parens rather than
use operator precedence.

It's one thing to force parens with the language (i.e. make it an error) in
order to prevent bugs (which I'm still generally against), but it's far worse
to warn about it, because the compiler is basically claiming the language is
wrong, making it so that you have to do what the compiler says rather than what
the language considers perfectly legal.

-- 
Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jun 26 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757






 Visual Studio is one of the worst compilers I've ever seen with regards to
 warnings. It has tons of annoying, useless warnings which don't help one whit,
 forcing you to shut them off. So, I would consider Visual Studio to be a
 horrible example of what you should or shouldn't warn against.
What evidence do you have to back your claim? This article shows a significant amount of people enjoying Visual Studio static analysis to detect bugs in a large amount of C++ code: http://randomascii.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/two-years-and-thousands-of-bugs-of-/ They enable only a certain subset of the warnings and they use a Python script that shows new warnings only the first time they appear in the code base. This is a simple but very useful memory, to solve one of the most important downsides of warnings.
 And I would put
 any warning about operator precedence on the list of warnings that should be
 removed. It subverts the language when you're forced to add parens rather than
 use operator precedence.
Experience has shown again and again that humans become unreliable at keeping in mind operator precedence when it goes beyond a small number of rules and levels. From the evidence on the frequency of bugs related to operator precedence in C and C++ code, they go past such limit. This enhancement request is asking for an warning, then for it to become a deprecation, and later an error. -- Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jun 26 2013
prev sibling parent d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:
http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=8757




PDT ---
 What evidence do you have to back your claim?
My experience with the incredibly stupid stuff that Visual Studio likes to complain about. My favorite example would be converting to bool. C++ allows implicit conversion to bool for built-in types, so it's perfectly legal to do stuff like bool foo(int* bar) { return bar; } But the VS insists on complaining about a lot of conversions to bool - particularly when returning. It doesn't even like casts (complaining about potentially inefficient code, which makes no sense, since it would be trivial to adjust the code to be more efficient without changing the semantics). If you don't turn that warning off, you're forced to do stuff like return bar != 0; or return bar ? true : false; It would be one thing if the language had more restrictive conversion rules (like D), but it doesn't. So, VS ends up complaining about stuff which is perfectly valid C++ and not buggy in the least. It's _really_, _really_ annoying, and that's just _one _example. The compiler shouldn't be complaining about stuff that isn't actually broken. And it _definitely_ shouldn't be complaining about stuff that is 100% valid in the language and is 100% correct code just because some compiler writer decided that they thought that people should or shouldn't write their code in a particular way. -- Configure issuemail: http://d.puremagic.com/issues/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
Jun 26 2013