6/16/24, 11:00 AM Integer Promotions in C

Integer Promotions in C
The C compiler promotes certain data types to a higher rank for the sake of
achieving consistency in the arithmetic operations of integers.

In addition to the standard int data type, the C language lets you work with its
subtypes such as char, short int, long int, etc. Each of these data types occupy a
different amount of memory space. For example, the size of a standard int is 4
bytes, whereas a char type is 2 bytes of length. When an arithmetic operation
involves integer data types of unequal length, the compiler employs the policy of
integer promotion.

Integer Promotions
As a general principle, the integer types smaller than int are promoted when an
operation is performed on them. If all values of the original type can be represented
as an int, the value of the smaller type is converted to an int; otherwise, it is
converted to an unsigned int.

One must understand the concept of integer promotion to write reliable C code,
and avoid unexpected problems related to the size of data types and arithmetic
operations on smaller integer types.

Example

In this example, the two variables a and b seem to be storing the same value, but
they are not equal.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(){

char a = 251;
unsigned char b = a;

printf("a = %c", a);

printf("\nb = %c", b);

if (a == b)
printf("\n Same");

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else
printf("\n Not Same");

return 0;
}

Output

When you run this code, it will produce the following output −

a=√
b=√
Not Same

You get this output because "a" and "b" are treated as integers during comparison.
"a" is a signed char converted to int as -5, while "b" is an unsigned char converted to
int as 251.

Example: Mechanism of Integer Promotions

Let us try to understand the mechanism of integer promotions with this example −

#include <stdio.h>

int main(){

char a = 'e', b = '2', c = 'M';

char d = (a * b) / c;

printf("d as int: %d as char: %c", d, d);

return 0;
}

Output

Run the code and check its output −

d as int: 65 as char: A

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When Integer Promotion is Applied?

In the arithmetic expression "(a * b) / c", the bracket is solved first. All the variables
are of signed char type, which is of 2 byte length and can store integers between
-128 to 127. Hence the multiplication goes beyond the range of char but the
compiler doesn't report any error.

The C compiler applies integer promotion when it deals with arithmetic operations
involving small types like char. Before the multiplication of these char types, the
compiler changes them to int type. So, in this case, (a * b) gets converted to int,
which can accommodate the result of multiplication, i.e., 1200.

Example

Integer promotions are applied as part of the usual arithmetic conversions to certain
argument expressions; operands of the unary +, -, and ~ operators; and operands
of the shift operators. Take a look at the following example −

#include <stdio.h>

int main(){

char a = 10;
int b = a >> 3;

printf("b as int: %d as char: %c", b, b);

return 0;
}

Output

When you run this code, it will produce the following output −

b as int: 1 as char:

In the above example, shifting the bit structure of "a" to the left by three bits still
results in its value within the range of char (a << 3 results in 80).

Example

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In this example, the rank of the char variable is prompted to int so that its left shift
operation goes beyond the range of char type.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(){

char a = 50;
int b = a << 2;

printf ("b as int: %d as char: %c", b, b);

return 0;
}

Output

Run the code and check its output −

b as int: 200 as char: ╚

Integer Promotion Rules

Promotion rules help the C compiler in maintaining consistency and avoiding
unexpected results. The fundamental principle behind the rules of promotion is to
ensure that the expression's type is adjusted to accommodate the widest data type
involved, preventing data loss or truncation.

Here is a summary of promotion rules as per C11 specifications −

The integer types in C are char, short, int, long, long long and enum.
Booleans are also treated as an integer type when it comes to type
promotions.

No two signed integer types shall have the same rank, even if they have the
same representation.

The rank of a signed integer type shall be greater than the rank of any signed
integer type with less precision.
The rank of long int > the rank of int > the rank of short int > the rank of
signed char.

The rank of char is equal to the rank of signed char and unsigned char.

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Whenever a small integer type is used in an expression, it is implicitly

converted to int which is always signed.

All small integer types, irrespective of sign, are implicitly converted to

(signed) int when used in most expressions.

In short, we have the following integer promotion rules −

Byte and short values − They are promoted to int.

If one operand is a long − The entire expression is promoted to long.

If one operand is a float − The entire expression is promoted to float.

If any of the operands is double − The result is promoted to double.

Example

Here, the variables x and y are of char data type. When the division operation is
performed on them, they automatically get promoted to int and the resultant value
is stored in z.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(){

char x = 68;
char y = 34;

printf("The value of x is: %d", x);

printf("\nThe value of y is: %d", y);

char z = x/y;
printf("\nThe value of z: %d", z);

return 0;
}

Output

When you run this code, it will produce the following output −

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The value of x is: 68

The value of y is: 34
The value of z: 2

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