Paul Schlie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Given that it would appear that the only time the compiler may attempt > to optimize the allocation/use of an un-initialized variable, is when it > knows for certain it hasn't been initialized; might it be preferable to > then assign it a deterministic cheap value such as 0 which it may then > presume during optimization, given all remaining alternatives would seem > to have less desirable potential consequences?
That would not be desirable in general when optimizing. The compiler would not be able to consistently optimize away the initializations to zero, so a correct program would wind up with useless instructions which should make it larger and slower. Usually only a tiny bit larger and slower, of course, but when optimizing most people prefer the resulting code to run as fast as possible. Running as fast as possible means omitting instructions which are not required. It would be perfectly reasonable to have a command line option to initialize automatic variables to zero, of course. Ian
