http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=54454
Bug #: 54454 Summary: gcc violates c99 specification w.r.t. flexible arrays Classification: Unclassified Product: gcc Version: 4.7.1 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: minor Priority: P3 Component: c AssignedTo: unassig...@gcc.gnu.org ReportedBy: miku...@artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz Host: hppa-linux-gnu Target: hppa-linux-gnu Build: hppa-linux-gnu The c99 specification says (section 6.7.2.1, paragraph 16): "The size of the structure [with flexible array member] shall be equal to the offset of the last element of an otherwise identical structure that replaces the flexible array member with an array of unspecified length". This is not true in gcc. Try to complile and run this program: the size of the structure with the flexible array member is 8. However, offset of the flexible array member is 6. According to the specification, sizeof(struct flexible) should be 6. #include <stdio.h> #include <stddef.h> struct flexible { unsigned a; unsigned short b; unsigned char array[]; }; struct not_flexible { unsigned a; unsigned short b; unsigned char array[1]; }; int main(void) { printf("sizeof(struct flexible) = %d\n", (int)sizeof(struct flexible)); printf("offsetof(struct not_flexible, array)) = %d\n", (int)offsetof(struct not_flexible, array)); printf("offsetof(struct flexible, array)) = %d\n", (int)offsetof(struct flexible, array)); return 0; }