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by kllrnohj 2 days ago
-fsantize=integer and whambo bambo C/C++'s "time traveling UB" is now more consistent, better defined, and safer than Rust's release build behavior.

I don't know if Rust will ever attempt to fix this mistake, but I seriously hope they do.

2 comments

In C/C++ the default behavior, always, is very dangerous UB. Some compilers offer an option for guaranteed wrap-around, and some compilers offer an option for controlled crash. None of them is standardized or the default.

In Rust the standard mandates a guaranteed wrap-around or a controlled crash. The default behavior is crashing in debug mode and wrapping-around in release mode, but you can control that with a compiler flag.

No matter how you look at it, the Rust behavior is safer. The default behavior? Way better in Rust than in C++. Want a guaranteed wrap-around? In Rust, check. In C++, depending on the compiler. Want a guaranteed crash? In Rust, check. In C++, depending on the compiler.

Also worth noting that overflowing has much more severe consequences in C++ than in Rust, due to bounds checks.

> I don't know if Rust will ever attempt to fix this mistake

It was discussed many times, and the conclusion is: it is too expensive, and the default will only change if that will change (due to better optimizations and/or better hardware). It is not a mistake, but a conscious decision.

> > I don't know if Rust will ever attempt to fix this mistake

> It was discussed many times, and the conclusion is: it is too expensive, and the default will only change if that will change (due to better optimizations and/or better hardware). It is not a mistake, but a conscious decision.

There's also wrapping_add / saturating_add for anyone concerned about this. Ya want a specific behavior? Just tell the compiler! You can also use the type wrappers so it happens implicitly! https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/num/struct.Saturating.html (presumably this is optimizable on hardware that has operators for this, but idk if that happens yet)

If you're talking about compiler flags,

  rustc -C overflow-checks=yes
or in your project config,

  [profile.release]
  overflow-checks = true
gives you consistent panics on overflow.