uint
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Size | 4 bytes on 32-bit targets (as uint32); 8 bytes on 64-bit targets (as uint64) |
| Signed | No |
| Literal suffix | u |
| Representation | Binary, wraps modulo 2n |
| Hardware support | Native on all supported targets |
uint is the platform-dependent unsigned integer: its width matches the native pointer width of the compilation target. Use it for sizes, masks, and addresses that are naturally non-negative and never leave the program. It stores values in plain binary and wraps modulo 2n on overflow, where n is the target width; when the exact bit width matters, pick a fixed-width type instead.
Literals
let a: uint = 42; // explicit annotation
let b = 42u; // type suffixUnlike int, uint is never inferred: an unannotated, unsuffixed integer literal is always int, so request uint with an explicit annotation or the u suffix. See Literals for decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary forms.
Typical Use Cases
- Memory sizes and pointer-width arithmetic
- Word-sized bitmasks
- Interop with C
size_t-style parameters
Portability
Code that assumes a specific width for uint will behave differently on 32-bit and 64-bit targets. When the bit width must be exact — serialised data, hardware registers, cross-platform binary protocols — use a fixed-width type such as uint32 or uint64 instead.
Arithmetic
| Operator | Description | Compound |
|---|---|---|
+ | Addition | += |
- | Subtraction | -= |
* | Multiplication | *= |
/ | Division | /= |
% | Remainder | %= |
** | Exponentiation | n/a |
let a: uint = 10;
let b: uint = 3;
let sum = a + b; // 13
let quot = a / b; // 3 truncates toward zero
let rem = a % b; // 1 always non-negativeDivision truncates toward zero. Because unsigned values are never negative, both the quotient and the remainder are always non-negative.
Overflow. Unsigned arithmetic wraps modulo 2n (where n is the target width) in both debug and release builds — it never triggers a fatal error. Subtracting past zero wraps to a large value rather than going negative (0 - 1 yields the maximum), so prefer a signed type for any value that can legitimately fall below zero.
Comparison
| Operator | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|
== | Equal | bool |
!= | Not equal | bool |
< | Less than | bool |
<= | Less than or equal | bool |
> | Greater than | bool |
>= | Greater than or equal | bool |
Both operands must have the same type. Comparing uint with a fixed-width type such as uint32, or with a signed type such as int, is a compile-time error; cast one operand explicitly first.
Shift and Bitwise
Right shift on an unsigned value is logical: the vacated high bits are filled with zeros, never a sign bit. Left shift likewise fills the vacated low bits with zeros.
let u: uint = 20; // 0b00010100
let l = u << 2; // 80 logical left shift
let r = u >> 2; // 5 logical right shift, zero-filledUnsigned types are the natural home for bit manipulation; the operators & (AND), | (OR), ^ (XOR), and ~ (NOT) are all defined.
let a: uint = 0b1100; // 12
let b: uint = 0b1010; // 10
let and = a & b; // 0b1000 = 8
let or = a | b; // 0b1110 = 14
let xor = a ^ b; // 0b0110 = 6Conversion
Rux performs no implicit numeric conversions — every conversion uses the as operator. Because uint has a target-dependent width, always cast to a fixed-width type before serialising or comparing across platforms.
let n: uint = 1000;
let fixed = n as uint32; // pin to a known width
let s = n as int; // same width, bits reinterpreted