Ranged Integers for the C Programming Language

Parent SEI Program

CERT Program

Parent SEI Project

Secure Coding

Related Publications

Secure Coding in C and C++

Jeff Gennari
Shaun Hedrick
Fred Long
Justin Pincar
Robert C. Seacord

Technical Note
CMU/SEI-2007-TN-027

PDF File

This report describes an extension to the C programming language to introduce the notion of ranged integers, that is, integer types with a defined range of values. A variable of a ranged integer type will always have a value within the defined range as a result of initialization or assignment. Use of ranged integers would help prevent integer overflow errors and thus would result in more reliable and secure C programs. The syntax and semantics of ranged integers are presented, and some examples are given to illustrate their use.