C++ Primer Plus

Unsigned Types

Each of the four integer types you just learned about comes in an unsigned variety that can’t hold negative values. This has the advantage of increasing the largest value the variable can hold. For example, if short represents the range –32,768 to +32,767, the unsigned version can represent the range 0 to 65,535. Of course, you should use unsigned types only for quantities that are never negative, such as populations, bean counts, and happy face manifestations. To create unsigned versions of the basic integer types, you just use the keyword unsigned to modify the declarations:

unsigned short change;          // unsigned short typeunsigned int rovert;            // unsigned int typeunsigned quarterback;           // also unsigned ...