Search code examples
c++c++11type-safety

Convert scoped enum to int

Why cannot a scoped enum be converted to int implicitly? If I have

enum class Foo:uint32_t{...};

Then I know that the integers covered by Foo is a subset of those covered uint32_t, so I should always be safe. Am I missing some quirk here? The opposite cannot be safe though.

Solution

  • Just because such a conversion can always succeed doesn't mean you want it to be implicit.

    The entire purpose of scoped enums is that they are distinct types that won't lead to confusing results during overload resolution.

    Being explicit is good.