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Re: preferring ptrdiff_t to size_t for object counts


From: Bruno Haible
Subject: Re: preferring ptrdiff_t to size_t for object counts
Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2017 02:36:10 +0200
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Hi Paul,

> The name I'm currently 
> thinking of is 'in_t', short for "index type". That's an 
> easy-to-remember name (the type is like 'int', but possibly wider).

Fine with me.

It doesn't collide: Only very few packages use this identifier 'in_t', and
only in isolated places.

> One other advantage of having our own signed type is that we can 
> guarantee that it's at least as wide as int (something that is not true 
> for ptrdiff_t). That way, some of my current code that says 'MIN 
> (INT_MAX, PTRDIFF_MAX)' can be simplified to the more-natural INT_MAX. 
> This is helpful for traditional interfaces that use int counters.

Indeed. (Although portability to Windows 3.1 is not in the focus of gnulib
nor of GNU programs any more.)

Bruno




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