Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Tim Rentsch Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: Integral types and own type definitions (was Re: Suggested method for returning a string from a C program?) Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:04:57 -0800 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 21 Message-ID: <86sebdges6.fsf@linuxsc.com> References: <20250319115550.0000676f@yahoo.com> <20250319201903.00005452@yahoo.com> <86r02roqdq.fsf@linuxsc.com> <86o6xpk8sn.fsf@linuxsc.com> <20250325011327.41@kylheku.com> <20250325131110.000056bd@yahoo.com> <86bjtpjp22.fsf@linuxsc.com> <20250325190958.0000534d@yahoo.com> <867c4ckhtd.fsf@linuxsc.com> <87ecyk7sm2.fsf@nosuchdomain.example.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Injection-Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2026 08:05:04 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="2e2ee413aa21f4e6a3f086ab36665673"; logging-data="931642"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19D8EcULUqnOM9Z04tkI+Vs1LgZhypCn6o=" User-Agent: Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.4 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:94CrrYi/KHDN3f96NIa90sLO59o= sha1:n1TjUtuSL2QG3AylFQkSXHblVgo= Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.c:396636 Keith Thompson writes: > Tim Rentsch writes: > [...] > >> Returning to the original question, the point is that, >> when considered as adjectives, "integer" and "integral" >> mean very different things. > > They can, but they don't necessarily do so, and it's important to > acknowledge that common usage is not consistent. > > C90 referred to "integral types". C99 changed that to "integer > types". C++ defines "integral types" and then defines "integer > types" as a synonym. Both terms are valid. > > I prefer to use the terms defined by the language standard when > discussing a given language, but in practice "integer" and "integral" > are used synonymously. [...] Only by people who are careless in their use of language.