C23 _BitInt

[user1234]

On Sunday, 17 May 2026 at 14:52:06 UTC, Daniel N wrote:
> https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n2763.pdf
>
> "There is one crucial exception to the C rules for integer 
> promotion: _BitInt types are excepted from the integer 
> promotions."
>
> I find this really interesting, finally there's a way to 
> opt-out from integer promotions in C. You could even create new 
> aliases for 16- and 32-bit types that then avoids the legacy 
> rules.

There was a slightly related blog post posted on [YN yesterday]. 
No promotion means better expressivity when it's about vector 
libraries, less casts...

> Integer promotion still breaks everything. int8_t + int8_t 
> produces int32_t in C++. This is one of the oldest pain points 
> for SIMD programmers working with image data, where 8-bit and 
> 16-bit arithmetic dominates. std::simd inherits this problem 
> because it’s a library on top of the language, not a fix to the 
> language. Writing a pixel blending operation with 
> std::simd<uint8_t> means fighting integer promotion at every 
> step.

[YN yesterday]: 
https://lucisqr.substack.com/p/c26-shipped-a-simd-library-nobody