Okay, sounds like we’re all pretty much in agreement. How about I add a rule to our style guide that says “use unsigned types to represent values which cannot be negative.”
Good idea? > On Jan 25, 2023, at 4:11 PM, Alex Christensen <achristen...@apple.com> wrote: > > If a value represents a size or a count or something that inherently cannot > be negative, I strongly prefer using unsigned types. It reduces the number > of places where we need to ask ourselves “what if it’s negative?” when it can > never be negative, leading to more straightforward code that doesn’t have to > handle impossible cases. It also eliminates the possibility of malicious > content somehow incrementing a signed 32 bit integer past its maximum value > and executing code with unexpected negative values used in signed comparison > operations. > >>> On Jan 24, 2023, at 11:44 AM, Ryosuke Niwa via webkit-dev >>> <webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org> wrote: >>> >>> >>>> On Jan 24, 2023, at 2:00 AM, Myles Maxfield via webkit-dev >>>> <webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org> wrote: >>> >>> I recently learned that the C++ core guidelines recommend against using >>> unsigned to avoid negative values. Section 4.4 on page 73 of The C++ >>> Programming Language says unsigned types should be used for bitfields and >>> not in an attempt to ensure values are positive. Some talks by people on >>> the C++ standards committee (e.g., Herb Sutter) recommend against using >>> unsigned types simply because the value is expected to by positive. >>> >>> Should we be avoiding unsigneds for these purposes? WebKit uses unsigneds >>> all over the place, and I’m assuming a fair many of them are there to >>> indicate that negative values are avoided. The C++ recommendation goes >>> against my intuition that the type is there for clarity, to indicate >>> expectations about the meaning and behavior of its value. But if it’s >>> standard practice to just use int instead, perhaps we should update the >>> style guide? >>> >>> What do you think? >> >> I don’t think we should change our coding style guidelines just because C++ >> core guideline says something. >> >> - R. Niwa >> >> _______________________________________________ >> webkit-dev mailing list >> webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org >> https://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo/webkit-dev > _______________________________________________ webkit-dev mailing list webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org https://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo/webkit-dev
