And sadly x-----y won't parse :(

krylon · on April 11, 2022

It's been a while I used C, but I for one am kind of glad that doesn't parse. If you need to do this, you can use parentheses:

    x - (--y)

or

    (x--) - y

tom_ · on April 11, 2022

All parse fine, and unambiguously, due to the maximal munch rule.

x---y is (x--)-y, which is semantically valid.

x-----y is ((x--)--)-y - but it's a semantic error, as x-- is not an lvalue.