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ccastingcoding-style

Is (size_t)0 a good practice in C or not?

I've seen the following in C code and it seems strange to me:

myType GetStuff(size_t *iSize) {
    *iSize = (size_t)0;    
    size_t h = 0;       
    *iSize += h;
}

Everything works without the cast as well: *iSize = 0;.

Is there any need for the (size_t) cast or is it superfluous?

Solution

  • Is there any need in (size_t) cast or its superfluous?

    Arithmetic types convert implicitly. You don't need a cast. That said, the cast improves the readability of the code and might avoid some warnings from some compilers.