A counterintuitive breaking change related to new comparisons C++17 vs. C++20

SpaceshipOperator.txt

comp.lang.c++ #1074341                                                     (1)
From: Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com>
[1] A counterintuitive breaking change related to new comparisons
Date: Mon Jan 03 10:48:42 MST 2022
Lines: 42

A colleague discovered that switching from `-stc=c++17` to `-std=c++20` 
in their project resulted in a different behavior from some associative 
containers. A bit of research allowed to narrow down the culprit to what 
can be demonstrated by the following minimalist example

   #include <iostream>

   struct S
   {
     char c;

     operator const char *() const { return &c; }

     friend bool operator <(const S& lhs, const S& rhs)
       { return lhs.c < rhs.c; }
   };

   int main()
   {
     std::pair<int, S> p1{}, p2{};
     std::cout << (p1 < p2) << (p2 < p1) << std::endl;
   }

C++17 compilers output `00`. C++20 compilers output `01` (or, perhaps, 
`10`).

The obvious guess is that comparisons for `std::pair` work differently 
in C++20 after the introduction of `<=>`. And indeed, the `<=>` operator 
for `std::pair` in this case ignores the user-defined `<` and instead 
opts for raw pointer comparison through conversion to `const char *`. 
This is a rather surprising and counterintuitive breaking change, to put 
it mildly...

If we remove the user-defined conversion to `const char *`, C++20 will 
use the user-defined `<` and also output `00`.

The above results were obtained with GCC. Clang 10 outputs `00` even in 
`-std=c++20` mode, but Clang 11 and later output `01`.

-- 
Best regards,
Andrey Tarasevich

comp.lang.c++ #1074345
From: Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com>
[1] Re: A counterintuitive breaking change related to new comparisons
Date: Mon Jan 03 15:24:11 MST 2022
Lines: 75

On 1/3/2022 9:48 AM, Andrey Tarasevich wrote:
> A colleague discovered that switching from `-stc=c++17` to `-std=c++20` 
> in their project resulted in a different behavior from some associative 
> containers. A bit of research allowed to narrow down the culprit to what 
> can be demonstrated by the following minimalist example
> 
>    #include <iostream>
> 
>    struct S
>    {
>      char c;
> 
>      operator const char *() const { return &c; }
> 
>      friend bool operator <(const S& lhs, const S& rhs)
>        { return lhs.c < rhs.c; }
>    };
> 
>    int main()
>    {
>      std::pair<int, S> p1{}, p2{};
>      std::cout << (p1 < p2) << (p2 < p1) << std::endl;
>    }
> 
> C++17 compilers output `00`. C++20 compilers output `01` (or, perhaps, 
> `10`).
> 
> The obvious guess is that comparisons for `std::pair` work differently 
> in C++20 after the introduction of `<=>`. And indeed, the `<=>` operator 
> for `std::pair` in this case ignores the user-defined `<` and instead 
> opts for raw pointer comparison through conversion to `const char *`. 
> This is a rather surprising and counterintuitive breaking change, to put 
> it mildly...
> 
> If we remove the user-defined conversion to `const char *`, C++20 will 
> use the user-defined `<` and also output `00`.
> 
> The above results were obtained with GCC. Clang 10 outputs `00` even in 
> `-std=c++20` mode, but Clang 11 and later output `01`.

To take out of the picture the irrelevant matter of undefined pointer 
comparison, here's another example

   #include <iostream>

   struct S
   {
     int a;

     S(int a) : a(a) {}

     operator int() const { return a; }

     friend bool operator <(const S& lhs, const S& rhs)
       { return lhs.a > rhs.a; }
   };

   int main()
   {
     std::pair<int, S> p1{ 0, 1 }, p2{ 0, 2 };
     std::cout << (p1 < p2) << (p2 < p1) << std::endl;
   }

This program outputs `01` in C++17 mode (and earlier)
http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/98f0b6b57e9caf45

but outputs `10` in C++20 mode
http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/3f8c3e96cd39f596

In C++17 the user-defined comparison operator is used. In C++20 
conversion to `int` and subsequent comparison of `int`s is used.

-- 
Best regards,
Andrey Tarasevich