isocpp / isocpp/CppCoreGuidelines

C++ integer promotion defeats "ES.101: Use unsigned types for bit manipulation" on small integer types

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Description

I just fell on "Clang-Tidy: Use of a signed integer operand with a binary bitwise operator" warning.
Point is, I was writing 8bit unsigned integer expressions from my point of view, but expression below can involve signed arithmetic:
uint8_t{} | uint8_t{} | uint8_t{}

Which is not obvious.

Because of [over.built] and [conv.prom] sections, below assert is not guaranted to hold:
static_assert(std::is_same_v<decltype(std::declval<T>() | std::declval<T>()), T>)
And more importantly, this one does not hold either:
static_assert(std::is_signed_v< decltype(std::declval<T>() | std::declval<T>())> == std::is_signed_v<T>)

It currently fails on major implementations for uint8_t, uint_fast8_t, etc.
My limited understanding of the standard is that it could fail for any integer type smaller than int.

Technically the rule is correct, and I am not saying it should be changed to forbid bitwise ops on small ints.
But I think it reveals a quite uncomfortable situation that deserves a note.

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating the ES.101 rule and reading its surrounding guidance. Verify the small-integer promotion behavior against the cited [over.built] and [conv.prom] sections; done means the guideline clearly notes the mismatch between unsigned small operands and the promoted expression type.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
32/100

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