It is usually a good idea to declare variables as unsigned or size_t if they will be compared to sizes, to avoid this issue. Whenever possible, use the exact type you will be comparing against (for example, use std::string::size_type when comparing with a std::string‘s length). Compilers give warnings about comparing signed and unsigned types because … Read more
If I had to guess, I would say that they are trying to avoid a proliferation of types. Generally speaking there isn’t anything that an unsigned integer can do that a signed integer can’t do. As for the case when you need a number between 2147483648 and 4294967296 you probably should go to an 8 … Read more
Not all languages have the concept of unsigned ints. For example VB 6 had no concept of unsigned ints which I suspect drove the decision of the designers of VB7/7.1 not to implement as well (it’s implemented now in VB8). To quote: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/12a7a7h3.aspx The CLS was designed to be large enough to include the language … Read more
As you are probably aware, ints are stored internally in binary. Typically an int contains 32 bits, but in some environments might contain 16 or 64 bits (or even a different number, usually but not necessarily a power of two). But for this example, let’s look at 4-bit integers. Tiny, but useful for illustration purposes. … Read more
It’s not in the SQL standard, so the general urge to implement it is lower. Having too many different integer types makes the type resolution system more fragile, so there is some resistance to adding more types into the mix. That said, there is no reason why it couldn’t be done. It’s just a lot … Read more
When you select a column with type ZEROFILL it pads the displayed value of the field with zeros up to the display width specified in the column definition. Values longer than the display width are not truncated. Note that usage of ZEROFILL also implies UNSIGNED. Using ZEROFILL and a display width has no effect on … Read more