iso-c-9899-2024

name: iso-c-9899-2024 description: "Authoritative knowledge base from the ISO/IEC 9899:2024 C standard (C23, working draft N3220). CONSULT THIS BEFORE ANSWERING — do not answer C-standard questions from memory; the standard's exact rules, constraints, undefined-behavior catalogue (Annex J), and C23 version deltas are easy to misremember. TRIGGER whenever a question concerns: what the C standard requires/permits/forbids; whether code is standard-conforming or has undefined/unspecified/implementation-defined behavior; any C23 feature (_BitInt, constexpr, typeof, auto type inference, nullptr, enum with fixed underlying type, [[attributes]], #embed, VA_OPT, _Generic, <stdbit.h>, <stdckdint.h>, decimal floats); integer promotion / usual arithmetic conversions / conversion rank; the C memory model (atomics, memory_order, data races); the floating-point model (Annex F / IEC 60559, <fenv.h>, fma, rounding); sequence points and evaluation order; the preprocessor; the standard library headers; or bounds-checking (Annex K _s functions). SKIP only for pure build/tooling questions, C++ (use iso-c++ if present), or when the user explicitly wants compiler-specific (gcc/clang/msvc) behavior rather than the ISO standard." allowed-tools: - Read - Grep argument-hint: [topic, clause (e.g. ch05), header (e.g. stdckdint), or feature name]

ISO/IEC 9899:2024 — C23

Source: N3220 working draft | Pages: ~759 | Chapters: 14 (Clauses 1–7 + Annexes F/J/K/L) | Generated: 2026-06-09

How to Use This Skill

• Without arguments — load the core decision rules below for reference.
• With a topic — ask about undefined behavior, integer promotion, memory_order, constexpr, #embed; I find and read the relevant chapter.
• With a chapter — ask for ch05; I load that file.
• Browse — ask "what chapters do you have?" for the full index.

When you ask about a topic not in the Core section, I read the relevant chapter file (and cheatsheet.md / glossary.md / patterns.md) before answering. For UB/portability questions, the authoritative enumeration is Annex J (Ch 14).

Core Rules & Mental Models

The behavior taxonomy (the foundation — Ch 1)

Every non-portable construct is one of four kinds, each catalogued in an Annex J subclause:

• Undefined behavior (UB) — no requirements; compiler may do anything and optimizes assuming it never happens. → J.2.
• Unspecified — ≥2 outcomes allowed, none chosen (e.g. argument evaluation order). → J.1.
• Implementation-defined — documented per implementation (sign of char, >> of negatives). → J.3.
• Locale-specific — depends on locale. → J.4.

"shall" rule: a shall/shall not violation outside a "Constraints" subclause ⇒ silent UB. Constraint violations are the only errors a compiler must diagnose.

The UB hot-list (Ch 5, 10, 11)

Signed + - * overflow; /0, %0, INT_MIN/-1; shift count < 0 or ≥ width; two unsequenced writes (or write+read) of one object (i = i++); out-of-bounds or one-past dereference; pointer arithmetic outside [0, n]; memcpy/strcpy on overlapping operands; accessing a member of an atomic struct; data races; reaching unreachable(). Unsigned overflow is the lone defined wrap.

Conversions (Ch 3)

Rank → integer promotion (small→int/unsigned int, but _BitInt exempt) → usual arithmetic conversions. Mixed signed/unsigned of equal rank ⇒ result is unsigned (the -1 > 0u trap).

Sequencing (Ch 2, 5)

Only &&, ||, ?:, , (operator), and function-call argument evaluation introduce sequence points inside an expression. Everything else leaves operands unsequenced → same-object conflict is UB. FP reassociation (x*y)*z ≠ x*(y*z) is non-conforming by default.

Concurrency (Ch 11)

Data race = UB. memory_order lattice: default seq_cst; weaken to release(store)/acquire(load) for a publish-protect handoff; relaxed = atomicity only, no ordering. Only atomic_flag is guaranteed lock-free.

Floating-point (Ch 12)

Annex F binds IEC 60559 (IEEE 754-2019), gated by __STDC_IEC_60559_BFP__. Changing rounding or reading FP flags requires #pragma STDC FENV_ACCESS ON. NaN != NaN — use isnan. Use fma for one-rounding accuracy.

C23 "prefer this" (Ch 4, 6, 8, 13)

constexpr over #define; ckd_add/sub/mul (<stdckdint.h>) over manual overflow checks; stdc_* (<stdbit.h>) over __builtin_clz/popcount; [[noreturn]] over _Noreturn; __VA_OPT__(,) over the ,##__VA_ARGS__ hack; bare keywords (bool, alignas, static_assert) over _-spellings (obsolescent); #embed over xxd-arrays; auto/typeof for inference; enum E : T {…} for fixed ABI. Breaking change: int f() ≡ int f(void) (K&R prototypes removed); gets removed.

Chapter Index

Topic Index

• abstract machine / observable behavior → ch02
• alignment / alignas → ch03, ch06
• arithmetic conversions / rank / promotion → ch03
• atomics / memory_order / data race → ch11
• attributes [[…]] → ch06, ch08
• auto / typeof type inference → ch04, ch06
• _BitInt → ch03, ch04, ch13
• bit utilities (stdbit, CLZ, popcount) → ch13
• bounds-checking _s (Annex K) → ch14
• constexpr → ch04, ch06
• conversions (usual arithmetic) → ch03
• #embed → ch08
• enum (fixed underlying type) → ch06
• feature-test macros (__STDC_*, __has_*) → ch08
• floating-point / IEC 60559 / Annex F → ch12
• fma / rounding / FENV_ACCESS → ch12
• _Generic → ch05
• integer promotion → ch03
• linkage / storage duration → ch03, ch07
• main / startup / termination → ch02, ch09
• memory management (malloc, free_sized) → ch09
• overflow-checked arithmetic (ckd_*) → ch13
• preprocessor / macros / __VA_OPT__ → ch08
• restrict → ch06, ch10
• reserved identifiers → ch09
• sequence points / evaluation order → ch02, ch05
• strings (memcpy/strncpy/memmove) → ch10
• threads (<threads.h>) → ch11
• undefined behavior (catalogue) → ch01, ch14 (Annex J)
• unreachable() → ch13

Supporting Files

• glossary.md — every key term with its defining chapter
• patterns.md — concrete C23 techniques (overflow-safe sizing, release/acquire, directed rounding, …)
• cheatsheet.md — decision rules: is-it-UB, conversion rules, memory_order picker, C23 use-this-not-that

Scope & Limits

Covers the C23 standard (N3220 working draft) — language, library, and Annexes F/J/K/L. Extracted via pdftotext, so some grammar productions and wide tables are summarized rather than reproduced verbatim; for exact normative wording cite the clause number and verify against the PDF. For C++ use a dedicated skill; for compiler-specific behavior (gcc/clang/nvc) consult that toolchain's docs, not this skill.