CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++metaprogrammingtemplate-meta-programmingcompile-time
chaosink
chaosink

Reputation: 1483

Existance of compile-time computation that can get compilers into endless loop

Does there exist such kind of compile-time computation that can get compilers into endless loop?

May the endless loop not consume increasing memory? Or it may stop for the lack of memory.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 86

Answers (1)

Aplet123
Aplet123

Reputation: 35512

There are infinite loops just like in run-time, however unlike run-time, the compiler will stop after enough iterations. Here's an example:

#include <iostream>

template<int i>
struct loop {
    // this will just keep referencing itself
    static constexpr int val = loop<i + 1>::val;
};

int main() {
    std::cout << loop<0>::val << std::endl;
}

The compiler gives the following error message:

fatal error: template instantiation depth exceeds maximum of 900

Upvotes: 5

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