Why would the C code no longer compile if it conforms to the spec?

seabrookmx 15 hours ago | parent | next [-]

"The spec" is loose in places and is full of undefined behavior which can change from compiler to compiler. Very low level code tends to hit these types of issues much more than application code would. But these types of issues are even common in large userspace codebases.

	▲	ranger_danger 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		To me, undefined behavior is by default not conformant, so that wouldn't count for the purposes of my question.

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wasting_time 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You sort of answered your own question.

Another reason is compiling with -Werror and hitting new warnings.

Also, the version of the spec changes with almost every major release.

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stonogo 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There is more than one C specification, and with each new release of GCC several things that used to emit warnings are newly treated as errors.

	▲	ranger_danger 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		but if the correct standard is specified as an option, shouldn't that prevent conformant applications from failing to compile in newer versions?