Semicolon in C++?

Question

Is the "missing semicolon" error really required? Why not treat it as a warning?

When I compile this code

int f = 1 int h=2; 

the compiler intelligently tells me that where I am missing it. But to me it's like - "If you know it, just treat it as if it's there and go ahead. (Later I can fix the warning.)

  int sdf = 1, df=2;   sdf=1 df =2 

Even for this code, it behaves the same. That is, even if multiple statements (without ;) are in the same line, the compiler knows.

So, why not just remove this requirement? Why not behave like Python, Visual Basic, etc.

Summary of discussion

Two examples/instances were missing, and a semi-colon would actually cause a problem.

1.

return  (a+b) 

This was presented as one of the worst aspects of JavaScript. But, in this scenario, semicolon insertion is a problem for JavaScript, but not for C++. In C++, you will get another error if ; insertion is done after return. That is, a missing return value.

2

int *y; int f = 1 *y = 2; 

For this I guess, there is no better way than to introduce as statement separator, that is, a semicolon.

Answer 1

It's very good that the C++ compiler doesn't do this. One of the worst aspects of JavaScript is the semicolon insertion. Picture this:

return   (a + b); 

The C++ compiler will happily continue on the next line as expected, while a language that "inserts" semicolons, like JavaScript, will treat it as "return;" and miss out the "(a + b);".

Instead of rely on compiler error-fixing, make it a habit to use semicolons.

Answer 2

There are many cases where a semicolon is needed.

What if you had:

int *y; int f = 1 *y = 2; 

This would be parsed as

int *y; int f = 1 * y = 2; 

So without the semicolons it is ambiguous.