Re: Noob question: universal_integer type

["Jeffrey R. Carter" <spam.jrcarter.not@spam.acm.org>]

Duke Normandin wrote:
> 
> Let me get this right... if I use an undeclared integer in an expression,
> Ada will "deem it" to be a "universal_integer" and not choke at
> compile-time?

I don't know, and I've been using Ada since 1984. What is "an undeclared integer"?

17 is an integer literal; all integer literals are universal_integer. 17 is not 
an undeclared integer.

What the tutorial is trying to get across is that Ada, unlike some languages, 
does not have typed numeric literals (see also universal_real). You might 
encounter a language in which 10 is a literal of type int and 10L a literal of 
long int, for example. In Ada, all integer literals are universal_integer, and 
implicitly converted to specific integer types as required.

Partly this makes life easier: you can change the type of a variable and not 
have to change all the literals used with that variable; and partly it's pretty 
much needed in a language that lets you define your own numeric types.

-- 
Jeff Carter
"C's solution to this [variable-sized array parameters] has real
problems, and people who are complaining about safety definitely
have a point."
Dennis Ritchie
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