>int val = a(b(c(), d()), e(f(), g())); I'll stick by my original assertion. If the order of those invocations matter, then they shouldn't be on the same line,

>int val = a(b(c(), d()), e(f(), g())); I'll stick by my original assertion. If the order of those invocations matter, then they shouldn't be on the same line, regardless of whether the actual behavior is well-defined or not. Just one example of what can go wrong: parameter reordering is often done automatically by tools, or manually by someone who is not intimately familiar with the code, such as six-months-in-the-future you. Six operations with side effects--especially conflicting side-effects--belong on six lines. Six lines on your screen is not worth the days potentially spent searching for a future bug.