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Integral conversions in C/C++


Hi all,

I ran into a problem with an expression that I imagined is too
trivial to even needing a second thought in the first place.
However, on a 32 bit machine, the code

--->8---

#include <stdint.h>

// ...

int64_t a;
uint32_t b = 8;

a = -(b * 2u);

--->8---

assigns a the value 0xfffffff0 while no warnings were issued even
when compiling with all warnings (-Wall) switched on.  Strangely
enough and for reasons escaping me

--->8---

#include <stdint.h>

// ...

int64_t a;
uint32_t b = 8;

a = -((int64_t )(b * 2u));

--->8---

produces the expected value of 0xfffffffffffffff0 (or -16).

The destination type (ie, a's type) is the same in both versions
which is large enough to hold the result of the RHS of a = -(x)
with x being a temporary variable for the result of the sub
expression (b * 2u).  In order to represent the latter's result,
its destination type clearly cannot be that of its operands and
must be converted to a larger type.  Since a's type satisfies
these requirements already, it seems logical to assume that x
is defined with this type also which clearly is not the case
with the first version.  Having 4.7 of the ISO C++ standard
in mind which deals with integral _conversions_ (as opposed
to integral _promotions_) at which point may I be missing
something here ?  Where's the logic in having to insert a
type cast for a temporary when it can be unambiguously inferred
from the destination type of the expression ?  Is this an
``implementation detail'' ?


Cheers, Christian


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