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What do uints initiate to?

In solidity what do numbers initiate to assuming we just call a plain number.

uint256 plainNumber

I understand it's zero. But what I'm asking for, is there a way to detect if that number has been set by the compiler or a user variable. For example...

uint256 plainNumber;
***some code and we continue***
plainNumber = 0;

Is there any way to detect if I set the plainNumber or if it was simply initialized at zero? Any special protocol?

Solution

  • From my experience, you cannot know if the value is 0 because it's the inital state or if it is 0 because of 'you'.

    One 'solution' would be to use a struct of this kind, and set the isSet bool when you change the plainNumber value :

    struct myPlainNumber {
    uint256 plainNumber
    bool isSet
}