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

Answer 1

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

I think the general problem is that without the semicolon there's no telling what the programmer could have actually have meant (e.g may-be the second line was intended as sdf = 1 + df - 2; with serious typos). Something like this might well result from completely arbitrary typos and have any intended meaning, wherefore it might not be such a good idea after all to have the compiler silently "correct" errors.

You may also have noticed that you often get "expected semicolon" where the real problem is not a lack of a semicolon but something completely different instead. Imagine a malformed expression that the compiler could make sense out of by silently going and inserting semicolons.

The semicolon may seem redundant but it is a simple way for the programmer to confirm "yes, that was my intention".

Also, warnings instead of compiler errors are too weak. People compile code with warnings off, ignore warnings they get, and AFAIK the standard never prescribes what the compiler must warn about.