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Reducing C undefined behavior is part of the discussion around memory safety

lwn.net 62 min read Editor score 6/10

A Kernel Recipes talk examines C's undefined behavior and whether the language could eventually become memory-safe, alongside the reasons developers still use C. These trade-offs matter to engineers maintaining performance-critical systems.

What

Martin Uecker's Kernel Recipes talk discussed undefined behavior in C and whether C can eventually be made memory-safe.

How

C defines behavior through an abstract machine; undefined behavior leaves implementations unconstrained and allows aggressive compiler optimization.

Why it matters

For systems engineers, undefined behavior complicates portable code and is part of the challenge of improving C memory safety.

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