on X86 SysV the ABI of an empty struct is different from Clang and GCC
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Nobody has claimed this yet.
A-ABI
C-bug
- Dominant language
- Rust
- Stars
- 119k
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Description
With Clang and GCC
https://godbolt.org/z/rWvcYYajx
typedef struct { } EmptyStruct;
EmptyStruct val_out(void) { EmptyStruct o = {}; return o; }
val_out:
mov eax, dword ptr [esp + 4]
ret 4
But rustc
https://godbolt.org/z/E99cdz69n
#[repr(C)] pub struct EmptyStruct {}
#[unsafe(no_mangle)]
extern "C" fn val_out() -> EmptyStruct {
EmptyStruct {}
}
emits only
val_out:
ret
zero-sized structs are only a GNU extension, but in practice rustc is compatible for most targets.
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Research direction
Reproduce the difference using the two linked Godbolt examples and compare rustc's x86 SysV ABI handling with the Clang and GCC output for val_out. Determine the expected calling convention for the empty #[repr(C)] struct and define completion as rustc's behavior being resolved or the incompatibility being explicitly justified and covered by a regression test.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- c, rust
- Domain
- compilers
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 48/100