From 9d320d113a4362a3457835b9801443ff90ce8b37 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Erik Carstensen <erik.carstensen@intel.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2026 16:10:03 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Clarify assertion semantics, SIMICS-23401

---
 doc/1.4/language.md | 9 ++++++++-
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/doc/1.4/language.md b/doc/1.4/language.md
index 31039c43..edada7c0 100644
--- a/doc/1.4/language.md
+++ b/doc/1.4/language.md
@@ -3923,9 +3923,16 @@ assert <em>expr</em>;
 </pre>
 
 Evaluates *`expr`*. If the result is `true`, the
-statement has no effect; otherwise, a runtime-error is generated.
+statement has no effect; otherwise, a fatal runtime error is generated, aborting the current execution thread.
 *`expr`* must have type `bool`.
 
+> [!NOTE]
+>
+> DML guarantees that the assertion expression is evaluated, and that the
+> program terminates if the expression is false. This differs from the `assert`
+> construct in the C/C++ standard libraries, which can sometimes be optimized
+> out depending on build settings.
+
 ### Error Statements
 
 <pre>