Name: sgC58550 Date: 03/17/97


I do think the compiler should warn when int (long) ist
implicitely converted to float (double). I got an endless
loop which was not so easy to find. Basically the following
code shows what happens:

class Test {
    public static void main(String argv[]) {
        int i;
        float j=1;
        for(i=0;i<33554432;i+=j)
            if (i % 1000000 == 0) System.out.print(i);
    }
}

With today's computation power and memory sizes a loop of
this proportion is not so unlikely. The ultra I use arrives
at the problematic point in less than a minute.
Considering that the only "error" in the above is the
declaration of j as int, I consider this "feature" to be
dangerous. If someone wants to conserve memory such an use
of a float is not so unlikely. As this problem is possibly
not found in a test-run (small values) but will cause trouble
when it counts (large values), I belive an appropriate warning
or even a required cast should be added.

Best Regards
Arno Wagner
(Dipl. Inform.)


company - Univesity of Karlsruhe, Dept. of Informatics , email - ###@###.###
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