C++ In a Nutshell

Type Conversions

In an arithmetic expression, binary operators require operands of the same type. If this is not the case, the type of one operand must be converted to match that of the other operand. When calling a function, the argument type must match the parameter type; if it doesn’t, the argument is converted so its type matches. C++ has cast operators, which let you define a type conversion explicitly, or you can let the compiler automatically convert the type for you. This section presents the rules for automatic type conversion.

Arithmetic Types

An arithmetic type is a fundamental integral or floating-point type: bool, char, signed char, unsigned char, int, short, long, unsigned int, unsigned short, unsigned long, float, double, or long double. Some operations are permitted only on arithmetic types, pointer types, enumerations, class types, or some combination of types. The description of each operator tells you which types the operator supports.

Type Promotion

Type promotion is an automatic type conversion that applies only to arithmetic types, converting a “smaller” type to a “larger” type while preserving the original value. Contrast promotions with other automatic type conversions (described in later subsections), which can lose information. Promotions involve either integral or floating-point values. The rules for integral promotion are:

• A “small” integral rvalue is converted to an int if the type int can represent all of the values of the source type; otherwise, it is ...