Re: Integral types and own type definitions (was Re: Suggested method for returning a string from a C program?)

On Tue, 25 Mar 2025 05:02:45 -0700
Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> wrote:

Michael S <already5chosen@yahoo.com> writes:
 

On Tue, 25 Mar 2025 08:39:04 -0000 (UTC)
Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> wrote:
 

On 2025-03-25, Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com>
wrote:
 

On 25.03.2025 05:56, Tim Rentsch wrote:
 

Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> writes:
>
[...]
 

When I started with "C" or C++ there were not only 8-bit
multiples defined for the integral types;  [...] 

>
In C the correct phrase is integer types, not integral types. 

>
My apologies if I'm using language independent terms.  I'm
confident, though, that most people (obviously you as well)
understood the term. 

>
You are 100% correct.  You made it clear that you're referring
to a time /when you started with C/. I remember from past
discussions that this was sufficiently long ago that it was ISO
C90 or ANSI C, if not earlier.
>
In ISO 9899:1990, we have this:
>
  6.1.2.5 Types
>
  [...]
>
  "The type char, the signed and unsigned integer types.  and the
  enumerated types are collectively called integral types."
                                           ^^^^^^^^
>
The integral types were renamed between C90 and C99.  However,
"integral types" remains part of C history.  C90 is a still valid,
historic and historically significant dialect of C.
>
Even today, it is misleading to say that "integral types"
is an incorrect way to talk about C. It's a terminology that
has been formally superseded since C90.  However, it is a term
used in computer science and mathematics, and fine for informal
discussions that don't revolve around language-lawyering.
>
The word has two pronunciations in English.  When the emphasis is
on the first syllalble:  IN-tgrl, it is a noun which refers to the
opposite of a calculus derivative.  The integral of x^2 from 0 to
1, etc.  in-TE-gral is an adjective, which is is a common
words---it's an integral part of everyday English, meaning
indivisible from.  In math and CS it is used for indicating that
some quantity is in Z. 

>
Wouldn't the term 'whole numbers' be preferred in everyday English?
 

 
"Whole numbers" are all non-negative.
 
"Integers" include values less than zero.

Thank you.
Sounds like English everyday use differs from two other languages that
I know relatively well in both of which "whole" numbers include
negatives.