Re: Noob question: universal_integer type

[Duke Normandin <dukeofperl@ml1.net>]

On 2010-05-21, Jeffrey R. Carter <spam.jrcarter.not@spam.acm.org> wrote:
> 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.
>

OK! I got it...
-- 
Duke
*** Tolerance becomes a crime, when applied to evil [Thomas Mann] ***