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When reading questions about C programming from beginners, I very often see them describing peculiar run-time errors and crashes, segmentation faults and similar. They have spent a lot of time chas...
#4: Nominated for promotion
by
Alexei
·
2022-02-13T11:44:18Z (almost 3 years ago)
#3: Post edited
by
Lundin
·
2021-09-27T08:19:19Z (about 3 years ago)
- When reading questions about C programming from beginners, I very often see them describing peculiar run-time errors and crashes, segmentation faults and similar. They have spent a lot of time chasing down the bug but failed.
- Then upon viewing their code, I notice that the code should never have "compiled cleanly" - there were warnings, but the beginner didn't read them. If they had done so, it would have saved them a lot of time.
Not reading warnings could in turn be caused by the IDE used hiding away warnings in some hard-to-spot window, or because they picked some "compile & run" option, or simply because they weren't paying attention.- Or possibly because they think that warnings mean "here's a little cosmetic issue that you should fix when you have time", and not "here is a severe bug that will likely prevent your program from working as expected" which is closer to the truth most of the time.
Unfortunately, a compiler isn't _required_ to give an error upon C language violations. A "diagnostic message" is sufficient, as discussed at [What must a C compiler do when it finds an error?](https://software.codidact.com/posts/277340).- **Are there any recommended compiler options beginners should use to avoid accidentally running programs with errors already spotted by the compiler?**
- Mostly interested in the "gcc-like" mainstream compilers: gcc, clang and icc, which have compatible command-line options.
- When reading questions about C programming from beginners, I very often see them describing peculiar run-time errors and crashes, segmentation faults and similar. They have spent a lot of time chasing down the bug but failed.
- Then upon viewing their code, I notice that the code should never have "compiled cleanly" - there were warnings, but the beginner didn't read them. If they had done so, it would have saved them a lot of time.
- Not reading warnings could in turn be caused by the IDE used, which is hiding away warnings in some hard-to-spot window, or because they picked some "compile & run" option, or simply because they weren't paying attention.
- Or possibly because they think that warnings mean "here's a little cosmetic issue that you should fix when you have time", and not "here is a severe bug that will likely prevent your program from working as expected" which is closer to the truth most of the time.
- Unfortunately, a compiler isn't _required_ to give an error upon C language violations. A "diagnostic message" is sufficient, as discussed at [What must a C compiler do when it finds an error?](https://software.codidact.com/posts/277340)
- **Are there any recommended compiler options beginners should use to avoid accidentally running programs with errors already spotted by the compiler?**
- Mostly interested in the "gcc-like" mainstream compilers: gcc, clang and icc, which have compatible command-line options.
#2: Post edited
by
Lundin
·
2021-07-06T08:42:05Z (over 3 years ago)
- When reading questions about C programming from beginners, I very often see them describing peculiar run-time errors and crashes, segmentation faults and similar. They have spent a lot of time chasing down the bug but failed.
Then upon viewing their code, I notice that the code should never have "compiled cleanly" - there were warnings, but the beginner didn't read them.- Not reading warnings could in turn be caused by the IDE used hiding away warnings in some hard-to-spot window, or because they picked some "compile & run" option, or simply because they weren't paying attention.
- Or possibly because they think that warnings mean "here's a little cosmetic issue that you should fix when you have time", and not "here is a severe bug that will likely prevent your program from working as expected" which is closer to the truth most of the time.
- Unfortunately, a compiler isn't _required_ to give an error upon C language violations. A "diagnostic message" is sufficient, as discussed at [What must a C compiler do when it finds an error?](https://software.codidact.com/posts/277340).
- **Are there any recommended compiler options beginners should use to avoid accidentally running programs with errors already spotted by the compiler?**
- Mostly interested in the "gcc-like" mainstream compilers: gcc, clang and icc, which have compatible command-line options.
- When reading questions about C programming from beginners, I very often see them describing peculiar run-time errors and crashes, segmentation faults and similar. They have spent a lot of time chasing down the bug but failed.
- Then upon viewing their code, I notice that the code should never have "compiled cleanly" - there were warnings, but the beginner didn't read them. If they had done so, it would have saved them a lot of time.
- Not reading warnings could in turn be caused by the IDE used hiding away warnings in some hard-to-spot window, or because they picked some "compile & run" option, or simply because they weren't paying attention.
- Or possibly because they think that warnings mean "here's a little cosmetic issue that you should fix when you have time", and not "here is a severe bug that will likely prevent your program from working as expected" which is closer to the truth most of the time.
- Unfortunately, a compiler isn't _required_ to give an error upon C language violations. A "diagnostic message" is sufficient, as discussed at [What must a C compiler do when it finds an error?](https://software.codidact.com/posts/277340).
- **Are there any recommended compiler options beginners should use to avoid accidentally running programs with errors already spotted by the compiler?**
- Mostly interested in the "gcc-like" mainstream compilers: gcc, clang and icc, which have compatible command-line options.
#1: Initial revision
by
Lundin
·
2021-07-06T08:15:56Z (over 3 years ago)
What compiler options are recommended for beginners learning C?
When reading questions about C programming from beginners, I very often see them describing peculiar run-time errors and crashes, segmentation faults and similar. They have spent a lot of time chasing down the bug but failed. Then upon viewing their code, I notice that the code should never have "compiled cleanly" - there were warnings, but the beginner didn't read them. Not reading warnings could in turn be caused by the IDE used hiding away warnings in some hard-to-spot window, or because they picked some "compile & run" option, or simply because they weren't paying attention. Or possibly because they think that warnings mean "here's a little cosmetic issue that you should fix when you have time", and not "here is a severe bug that will likely prevent your program from working as expected" which is closer to the truth most of the time. Unfortunately, a compiler isn't _required_ to give an error upon C language violations. A "diagnostic message" is sufficient, as discussed at [What must a C compiler do when it finds an error?](https://software.codidact.com/posts/277340). **Are there any recommended compiler options beginners should use to avoid accidentally running programs with errors already spotted by the compiler?** Mostly interested in the "gcc-like" mainstream compilers: gcc, clang and icc, which have compatible command-line options.