Communications of the ACM
C Language pdate Puts Backward Compatibility First
A working draft of the standard for the next C programming language revision, C2x, is available for review. Most changes that have thus far been approved for C2x clarify and refine how C should behave in different implementations and in comparison to C++. The proposed revision emphasizes keeping future editions of C compatible with the large body of existing C code, and avoiding "quiet changes," or those that cause a working program to work differently without notice.
So far, C standard oversight group WG14 has formally approved only a small number of revisions, including a clarification of the restrict keyword; making static assert behave the same in C as it does in C++; and better definitions for unions' behavior.
The current roadmap for C2x provides at least two more years for the proposals to complete the review process, and WG14 aims for a revised standard by the end of 2021, with a publication date of 2022.
From InfoWorld
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