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C++26: Trivial infinite loops are no longer undefined behaviour

C++26 eliminates undefined behavior for trivial infinite loops like `while(true);`, which previously allowed compilers like Clang to optimize away the loop entirely and execute unreachable code afterward. The fix comes from proposal P2809R3, accepted as a defect report so implementations may backport it to earlier C++ standards.

Background

C++ has a long history of subtleties around undefined behavior, particularly in the context of the forward progress guarantee introduced in C++11 for multithreading. This guarantee was sometimes interpreted aggressively by compiler optimizer passes.

Source
Lobsters
Published
Sep 17, 2026 at 03:33 AM
Score
7.0 / 10