Checked C

This is similar to an approach I proposed in 2012.[1] Microsoft: "Rather than changing the run-time representation of a pointer in order to support bounds checking, in Checked C the programmer associates abounds expression with each_Array_ptr<T>-typed variable and member to indicate where the bounds are stored. The compiler inserts a run-time check that ensures that deferencing an_Array_ptr<T>is safe (the compiler may optimize away the runtime check if it can prove it always passes). Bounds expressions consist of…

From the technical paper: Checked C adds new types to C: • ptr<T>, the checked pointer to singleton type, • array_ptr<T>, the checked pointer to array type, • T checked[N], the checked array type, Many people have been down that road. GCC had "fat pointers" for subscript checking years ago.[1] That never caught on. Walter Bright had a proposal.[2] I had a proposal. Microsoft had "Managed C++". It's technically possible, but retrofitting old code rarely happens. [1] http://williambader.com/bounds/example.html [2]…

Checked C: int a[5] = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4}; _Array_ptr<int> p : count(5) = a; // p points to 5 elements. My proposal for C: int a[5] = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4}; int p[..] = a; // p points to 5 elements. https://www.digitalmars.com/articles/C-biggest-mistake.html https://github.com/Microsoft/checkedc/wiki/New-pointer-and-a...