Ambiguous if and else branches: Is the behaviour defined?
Is the behaviour of this code defined according to any standard (C, C++)?
Yes, it is defined. In C (and all similar languages as I know), the "dangling else" binds to the last free if, therefore this interpretation
if(test_1)
{
if(test_2)
{
}
else
{
}
}
is correct.
There is no ambiguity. The else
clause always refers to the closest if
it can be attached to. From the C++ standard (6.4 Selection statements):
In clause 6, the term substatement refers to the contained statement or statements that appear in the syntax notation. The substatement in a selection-statement (each substatement, in the else form of the if statement) implicitly defines a local scope (3.3).
If the substatement in a selection-statement is a single statement and not a compound-statement, it is as if it was rewritten to be a compound-statement containing the original substatement. [ Example:
if (x) int i;
can be equivalently rewritten as
if (x) { int i; }
It ensues that the code you wrote can be rewritten as:
if(test_1)
{
if(test_2)
{
// Do stuff
}
else
{
exit(0);
}
}