Compiler warning - suggest parentheses around assignment used as truth value

Question

When I try to compile the piece of code below, I get this warning:

warning: suggest parentheses around assignment used as truth value

Why does t

Answer 1

Be explicit - then the compiler won't warn that you perhaps made a mistake.

while ( (list = list->next) != NULL )

or

while ( (list = list->next) )

Some day you'll be glad the compiler told you, people do make that mistake ;)

Answer 2

While that particular idiom is common, even more common is for people to use = when they mean ==. The convention when you really mean the = is to use an extra layer of parentheses:

while ((list = list->next)) { // yes, it's an assignment

Answer 3

It's just a 'safety' warning. It is a relatively common idiom, but also a relatively common error when you meant to have == in there. You can make the warning go away by adding another set of parentheses:

while ((list = list->next))