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Braces also help ensure that macros with multiple statements are properly expanded. Such a macro should be wrapped in a do-while loop. (See PRE10-C. Wrap multistatement macros in a do-while loop.) However, when the do-while loop is not present, braces can still ensure that the macro expands as intended.

An if, for, or while statement with an empty body also should have an empty pair of braces to indicate the empty body. In such a case, the condition should have a significant side-effect, or the statement will violate MSC12-C. Detect and remove code that has no effect or is never executed:

while (invalid_login()) {} // let user re-login until successful

Noncompliant Code Example

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int privileges;

if (invalid_login()) {
  if (allow_guests()) {
    privileges = GUEST;
  } 
} else {
  privileges = ADMINISTRATOR;
}

Exceptions

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Risk Assessment

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