[crote]

The problem is that the function call as a whole is UB. Having the original example compile to the equivalent of

  volatile int x;
  int a = x;
  int b = x;
  printf("%x %d\n", a, b);

is equally valid as

  volatile int x;
  int a = x;
  int b = x;
  printf("%x %d\n", b, a);

, and neither needs to have the same output as your proposed fix.

C could've specified something like "arguments are evaluated left-to-right" or "if two arguments have the same expression, the expression is [only evaluated once]/[always evaluated twice]". But it didn't, so the developer is left gingerly navigating a minefield every time they use volatile.

[indigo945]

Not only is "arguments are evaluated left-to-right" less easy to formalize than you think, it would also make all C code run slower, because the compiler would no longer be able to interleave computations for more efficient pipelining. The same goes for "expression is [only evaluated once]/[always evaluated twice]".

Of course the developer is navigating a minefield every time they use volatile, that's why it's called "volatile" - an English word otherwise only commonly used in chemistry, where it means "stuff that wants to go boom".

[imtringued]

Your argument makes no sense since the developer is expected to perform manual sequencing. Correctly written UB free code cannot be interleaved either.

All you've achieved is that the standard C function call syntax can no longer be used as is.

[remexre]

the compiler can still interleave anything it shows is side-effect free; it’s hard to show that something would benefit from being reordered without analyzing it well enough to determine what side effects it has

[jstimpfle]

I understand, that's why I said the code is obviously broken. The problem is not about order of evaluation. It's not about an UB arising from unsequenced volatile reads or whatever.

The problem is simply that the there are two volatile reads where only one was intended. It doesn't matter if there is UB or not. The code doesn't express the intention either way. All you need to know to understand that is that volatile might be modified concurrently (a little bit similar but not the same semantics as atomics).