From a205c22136c8da4eca9ddd2966c8edb469cbbd37 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Graeme Geldenhuys <graemeg@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:34:25 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix(codegen): empty loop body no longer crashes the compiler
 (#150)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

`for x := 0 to N do;` and `while C do;` have an empty statement as their
body, which the parser represents as a nil statement (its convention for
"no statement here" — every statement-list builder already filters nil).
A loop's single Body field is not filtered, so the nil reached EmitStmt:

  * Native backend: EmitStmt fell through every `is` check to the
    unsupported-statement fallback, which dereferenced AStmt.ClassName on
    nil — segfaulting the compiler (issue #150 was reported against the
    default native backend).
  * QBE backend: EmitStmt raised "EmitStmt called with nil statement",
    rejecting a legal empty body.

Both backends now treat a nil statement as a no-op, matching the parser's
nil-as-empty convention and the way AnalyseStmt already tolerates it. An
empty loop body compiles to a loop that does nothing.

E2E regression in cp.test.e2e.controlflow.pas asserts both `for ... do;`
and `while ... do;` compile + run as a no-op on every backend.
---
 .../pascal/blaise.codegen.native.x86_64.pas   |  6 +++
 .../src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.qbe.pas    |  5 ++-
 .../test/pascal/cp.test.e2e.controlflow.pas   | 39 +++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.native.x86_64.pas b/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.native.x86_64.pas
index 4d36321..6d70eaa 100644
--- a/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.native.x86_64.pas
+++ b/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.native.x86_64.pas
@@ -10811,6 +10811,12 @@ var
   PCHTotal: Integer;
   AliasBuf: Integer;
 begin
+  { An empty statement (e.g. the body of `for x := 0 to N do;`) parses to a nil
+    statement — the parser's convention for "no statement here".  It is a valid,
+    do-nothing body, so emit nothing.  Without this guard the unsupported-
+    statement fallback at the tail dereferences AStmt.ClassName and segfaults. }
+  if AStmt = nil then
+    Exit;
   Self.DbgStmtLabel(AStmt);
   if AStmt is TAsmStmt then
   begin
diff --git a/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.qbe.pas b/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.qbe.pas
index daf53ed..79fb681 100644
--- a/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.qbe.pas
+++ b/compiler/src/main/pascal/blaise.codegen.qbe.pas
@@ -2572,8 +2572,11 @@ procedure TCodeGenQBE.EmitStmt(AStmt: TASTStmt);
 var
   DeadLbl: string;
 begin
+  { An empty statement (e.g. the body of `for x := 0 to N do;`) parses to a nil
+    statement — the parser's convention for "no statement here".  It is a valid,
+    do-nothing body, so emit nothing rather than rejecting it. }
   if AStmt = nil then
-    raise ECodeGenError.Create('EmitStmt called with nil statement');
+    Exit;
   if AStmt is TAsmStmt then
     raise ECodeGenError.Create(
       'inline asm blocks require the native backend (--backend native); '
diff --git a/compiler/src/test/pascal/cp.test.e2e.controlflow.pas b/compiler/src/test/pascal/cp.test.e2e.controlflow.pas
index 448c0ae..ec057d0 100644
--- a/compiler/src/test/pascal/cp.test.e2e.controlflow.pas
+++ b/compiler/src/test/pascal/cp.test.e2e.controlflow.pas
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ type
     procedure TestRun_For_Upward_PrintsRange;
     procedure TestRun_For_Downto_PrintsRange;
     procedure TestRun_While_PrintsRange;
+    procedure TestRun_For_EmptyBody_NoCrash;
+    procedure TestRun_While_EmptyBody_NoCrash;
     procedure TestRun_Repeat_PrintsRange;
     procedure TestRun_For_BreakExitsEarly;
     procedure TestRun_For_ContinueSkipsIteration;
@@ -105,6 +107,29 @@ const
     end.
     ''';
 
+  { Empty loop body — `for ... do;` / `while ... do;` parse to a nil body.
+    Regression for issue #150: the native backend segfaulted (nil.ClassName in
+    the unsupported-statement fallback) and the QBE backend rejected it; both
+    must now treat the empty body as a valid no-op. }
+  SrcForEmptyBody = '''
+    program P;
+    var I: Integer;
+    begin
+      for I := 0 to 9 do;
+      WriteLn('done')
+    end.
+    ''';
+
+  SrcWhileEmptyBody = '''
+    program P;
+    var I: Integer;
+    begin
+      I := 0;
+      while I < 0 do;
+      WriteLn('done')
+    end.
+    ''';
+
   SrcRepeat = '''
     program P;
     var I: Integer;
@@ -202,6 +227,20 @@ begin
   AssertEquals('1 2 3', '1' + LE + '2' + LE + '3' + LE, Output);
 end;
 
+procedure TE2EControlFlowTests.TestRun_For_EmptyBody_NoCrash;
+begin
+  if not ToolchainAvailable() then begin Ignore('toolchain unavailable'); Exit; end;
+  { Issue #150: an empty `for` body must compile + run as a no-op on both
+    backends (native previously segfaulted the compiler). }
+  AssertRunsOnAll(SrcForEmptyBody, 'done' + LE, 0);
+end;
+
+procedure TE2EControlFlowTests.TestRun_While_EmptyBody_NoCrash;
+begin
+  if not ToolchainAvailable() then begin Ignore('toolchain unavailable'); Exit; end;
+  AssertRunsOnAll(SrcWhileEmptyBody, 'done' + LE, 0);
+end;
+
 procedure TE2EControlFlowTests.TestRun_Repeat_PrintsRange;
 var Output: string; RCode: Integer;
 begin