$ gcc -v Using built-in specs. Target: i686-pc-linux-gnu Configured with: /root/gcc-4.4.0/configure --prefix=/opt/gcc-4.4.0 --enable-languages=c,c++ Thread model: posix gcc version 4.4.0 (GCC)
Here is a program to reproduce this problem :- #include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> #define MinWordStr "-2147483648" #define MinWord ((long)0x80000000) /* smallest word */ /* Simple function to convert long to a string */ static char * itos(long num) { char *p; static char buff[64]; p = buff + sizeof(buff) - 1; *p = '\0'; if (num >= 0L) do { *--p = num % 10L + '0'; num /= 10L; } while (num != 0L); else { if (num == MinWord) { /* max negative value */ p -= strlen (MinWordStr); strcpy (p, MinWordStr); } else { num = -num; do { *--p = '0' + (num % 10L); num /= 10L; } while (num != 0L); *--p = '-'; } } return p; } int main() { char *p; long x = -2147483645; int i; for (i = 0; i < 4; ++i) { p = itos(x); printf("i=%d p=%s\n",i,p); --x; } return 0; } When run with -O1 it runs okay. $ gcc -O1 prog.c && ./a.out i=0 p=-2147483645 i=1 p=-2147483646 i=2 p=-2147483647 i=3 p=-2147483648 But with -O2 it goes haywire. $ gcc -O2 progg.c && ./a.out i=0 p=-2147483645 i=1 p=-2147483646 i=2 p=-2147483647 i=3 p=-2147483648 i=4 p=-./,),(-*,) i=5 p=-./,),(-*,* i=6 p=-./,),(-*,+ i=7 p=-./,),(-*,, ...etc ad infinitum Note that if the line if (num == MinWord) { /* max negative value */ is changed to if (num == -num) { /* max negative value */ a different (and also incorrect) result occurs with -O2 $ gcc -O2 prog.c && ./a.out i=0 p=-2147483645 i=1 p=-2147483646 i=2 p=-2147483647 i=3 p=-./,),(-*,( Other points: 1) this has something to do with the value of x reaching the most negative 32-bit long (ie: -2147483648, or 0x80000000) - if it stays away from that by initializing x = -2147483644 instead of -2147483645 it is okay. 2) gcc 2.95.3 seems to work okay with -O2 -- Summary: gcc -O2 optimization causes infinite loop and wrong output Product: gcc Version: 4.4.0 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: normal Priority: P3 Component: c AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: dentongosnell at yahoo dot com GCC build triplet: i686-pc-linux GCC host triplet: i686-pc-linux GCC target triplet: i686-pc-linux http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=40579