why is this variable read-only

[Richard Bos]

No. Invoking undefined behavior simply means you've done something
that the standard explicitly does not address

Erm, no. It may also mean something that the Standard does not
explicitly address, which is not the same thing. From 4.2:

# Undefined behavior is otherwise indicated ... or by the omission of
# any explicit definition of behavior. There is no difference in
# emphasis among these three; they all describe ‘‘behavior that is
# undefined’’.

Although in the specific case under discussion, it is indeed explicitly
not defined.

Richard

 

[Nick Keighley]

Thanks a lot for your answer.
I got it.
But I have another doubt i.e. If I execute that line (char*
a="Sme_big_string_literal"in a while loop ,will I eventually fill up
the whole memory?

I'm not sure could you post a complete example?

int main (void)
{
while (1)
char *a = Some_big_string_literal";
return 0;
}

this will never terminate but it won't use any extra memory.
What did you mean?

 

[Edward A. Falk]

- Your DS9000 starts World War IV before World War III.

Actually, I think that bug is fixed in the latest version.