Question

We all know that dereferencing an null pointer or a pointer to unallocated memory invokes undefined behaviour.

But what is the rule when used within an expression passed to sizeof?

For example:

int *ptr = 0;
int size = sizeof(*ptr);

Is this also undefined?

Answer 1

In most cases, you will find that sizeof(*x) does not actually evaluate *x at all. And, since it’s the evaluation (de-referencing) of a pointer that invokes undefined behaviour, you’ll find it’s mostly okay. The C11 standard has this to say in 6.5.3.4. The sizeof operator /2 (my emphasis in all these quotes):

The sizeof operator yields the size (in bytes) of its operand, which may be an expression or the parenthesized name of a type. The size is determined from the type of the operand. The result is an integer. If the type of the operand is a variable length array type, the operand is evaluated; otherwise, the operand is not evaluated and the result is an integer constant.

This is identical wording to the same section in C99. C89 had slightly different wording because, of course, there were no VLAs at that point. From 3.3.3.4. The sizeof operator:

The sizeof operator yields the size (in bytes) of its operand, which may be an expression or the parenthesized name of a type. The size is determined from the type of the operand, which is not itself evaluated. The result is an integer constant.

So, in C, for all non-VLAs, no dereferencing takes place and the statement is well defined. If the type of *x is a VLA, that’s considered an execution-phase sizeof, something that needs to be worked out while the code is running – all others can be calculated at compile time. If x itself is the VLA, it’s the same as the other cases, no evaluation takes place when using *x as an argument to sizeof().

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C++ has (as expected, since it’s a different language) slightly different rules, as shown in the various iterations of the standard:

First, C++03 5.3.3. Sizeof /1:

The sizeof operator yields the number of bytes in the object representation of its operand. The operand is either an expression, which is not evaluated, or a parenthesized type-id.

In, C++11 5.3.3. Sizeof /1, you’ll find slightly different wording but the same effect:

The sizeof operator yields the number of bytes in the object representation of its operand. The operand is either an expression, which is an unevaluated operand (Clause 5), or a parenthesized type-id.

C++11 5. Expressions /7 (the above mentioned clause 5) defines the term “unevaluated operand” as perhaps one of the most useless, redundant phrases I’ve read for a while, but I don’t know what was going through the mind of the ISO people when they wrote it:

In some contexts ([some references to sections detailing those contexts – pax]), unevaluated operands appear. An unevaluated operand is not evaluated.

C++14/17 have the same wording as C++11 but not necessarily in the same sections, as stuff was added before the relevant parts. They’re in 5.3.3. Sizeof /1 and 5. Expressions /8 for C++14 and 8.3.3. Sizeof /1 and 8. Expressions /8 for C++17.

So, in C++, evaluation of *x in sizeof(*x) never takes place, so it’s well defined, provided you follow all the other rules like providing a complete type, for example. But, the bottom line is that no dereferencing is done, which means it does not cause a problem.

You can actually see this non-evaluation in the following program:

#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>

int main() {
    int x = 42;
    std::cout << x << '\n';

    std::cout << sizeof(x = 6) << '\n';
    std::cout << sizeof(x++) << '\n';
    std::cout << sizeof(x = 15 * x * x + 7 * x - 12) << '\n';
    std::cout << sizeof(x += sqrt(4.0)) << '\n';

    std::cout << x << '\n';
}

You might think that the final line would output something vastly different to 42 (774, based on my rough calculations) because x has been changed quite a bit. But that is not actually the case since it’s only the type of the expression in sizeof that matters here, and the type boils down to whatever type x is.

What you do see (other than the possibility of different pointer sizes on lines other than the first and last) is:

42
4
4
4
4
42