I’ve been writing software in C since 1991. While that was shortly after the ratification of the C89/90 standard, it took at least a few years for most compilers to catch up. So my formative years in C were spent developing code for compilers that weren’t yet standards conformant. Certain features were hit and miss. Since much of my development work involves C, I try to keep up with new developments. I freely admit that I don’t know it all; and every few years someone teaches me a new trick or hack that makes life just a little bit easier. Recently, I found a major gap in my understanding of one important aspect of the language.