++i++ in Plain English

[Blair P. Houghton]

In article <1991Apr25.174310.21264 at kithrup.COM> sef at kithrup.COM (Sean Eric Fagan) writes:
>I *like* my compiler to, at times, spend lots of cycles doing loop unrolling
>and elimination.  It can be very useful at times.  But, then, you do need
>some way of saying "can't touch this," which is what volatile provides, no?

Yes, you do need it, and yes, `volatile' is a hint to the
compiler that you know which variables are sticky and which
are just your verbosity going nuts, but there's a footnote
(67) at the bottom of one page (65) of the standard
(ANSI X3.159-1989) that says maybe it won't be so sticky.

Of course there's lots in there to indicate this may not have
been the true intent of the committee, but once again the
words in print don't bear that out.

				--Blair
				  "I need to wash up."