I have unintentionally raised a large debate recently concerning the question if it is legal in C/C++ to use the &P->m_foo expression with P being a null pointer. The programmers' community divided into two camps. The first claimed with confidence that it wasn't legal while the others were as sure saying that it was. Both parties gave various arguments and links, and it occurred to me at some point that I had to make things clear. For that purpose, I contacted Microsoft MVP experts and Visual C++ Microsoft development team communicating through a closed mailing list. They helped me to prepare this article and now everyone interested is welcome to read it. For those who can't wait to learn the answer: That code is NOT correct.

Article: http://www.viva64.com/en/b/0306/