GNU bug report logs - #67883
29.1.90; Native compiler hangs when compiling code with circular objects

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From: Andrea Corallo <acorallo <at> gnu.org>
To: 67883 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Cc: hokomo <at> disroot.org
Subject: bug#67883: 29.1.90; Native compiler hangs when compiling code with circular objects
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 07:48:50 -0500

hokomo via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text
editors" <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org> writes:

> Hello,
>
> The Emacs Lisp native compiler goes into an infinite loop when
> compiling code that contains circular objects.
>
> For example, put the following into a file and use M-x
> emacs-lisp-native-compile; it should hang:
>
>  (defun test1 ()
>    '#1=(1 2 3 . #1#))
>
> It seems like this only happens for certain top-level forms, such as
> `defun' (which may be expected behavior, due to the way the file
> compiler processes top-level forms). For example, this doesn't hang:
>
>  (lambda ()
>    '#1=(1 2 3 . #1#))
>
> Here's a more interesting example, which is how I stumbled upon this
> issue in the first place:
>
>  (defun cycle-pure (list)
>    (declare (pure t) (side-effect-free t))
>    (let ((newlist (append list ())))
>      (nconc newlist newlist)))
>
>  (defun test2 ()
>    (cycle-pure '(1 2 3)))
>
> (The definition of `cycle-pure' is copied from the `-cycle' function
> from the dash.el package.)
>
> If `cycle-pure' is not yet defined when compiling, the compiler
> doesn't hang.
>
> However, if `cycle-pure' is defined (e.g. via M-x eval-defun), the
> compiler hangs. This is weird because, unlike `test1' above, `test2'
> doesn't contain a circular list itself; it only builds it at run-time.
>
> In contrast, this example doesn't hang, regardless of whether `cycle'
> is defined or not (note the removed declarations):
>
>  (defun cycle (list)
>    (let ((newlist (append list ())))
>      (nconc newlist newlist)))
>
>  (defun test3 ()
>    (cycle '(1 2 3)))
>
> My conjecture is that the `pure' and `side-effect-free' declarations
> within `cycle-pure' (which I assume are picked up only once the
> function definition is loaded) allow the compiler to do some constant
> folding when it sees the expression `(cycle-pure '(1 2 3))'. This
> results in the compiler manipulating a circular list at compile-time,
> just like in `test1', and leads to a hang.
>
> Kind regards,
> hokomo

I'm pretty sure I've investigated this in the past.  IIRC this is due
some cl- function hanging on a circular list.  Can't find the bug number
ATM.

  Andrea

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