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AvoidFundamentalIntegerTypesCheck
jj-marr Jul 3, 2025
48598ef
Test typedefs properly
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Document properly
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Rename files
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Other renaming for portability change
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c66668e
Make matchers more specific
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Remove dead code
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Fix doc
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Fix issue on MSVC
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Add linter check to release notes
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Update documentation
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Fix redundant check
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In progress work on float check
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Declare const
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Allow for int to not be warned
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Reduce some duplication
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vibecoding: not even once
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For each loop
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Declare as const
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Add WarnOnInts documentation
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Update clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/portability/AvoidPlatformSpecific…
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
//===--- AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck.cpp - clang-tidy
//---------------===//
//
// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
//
//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//

#include "AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck.h"
#include "clang/AST/ASTContext.h"
#include "clang/ASTMatchers/ASTMatchFinder.h"
#include "clang/ASTMatchers/ASTMatchers.h"

using namespace clang::ast_matchers;

namespace clang::tidy::portability {

AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck::
AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck(StringRef Name,
ClangTidyContext *Context)
: ClangTidyCheck(Name, Context) {}

void AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck::registerMatchers(
MatchFinder *Finder) {
// Create a matcher for platform-specific fundamental integer types
// This should only match direct uses of builtin types, not typedefs
auto PlatformSpecificFundamentalType = qualType(allOf(
// Must be a builtin type directly (not through typedef)
builtinType(),
// Only match the specific fundamental integer types we care about
anyOf(asString("short"), asString("short int"), asString("signed short"),
asString("signed short int"), asString("unsigned short"),
asString("unsigned short int"), asString("int"), asString("signed"),
asString("signed int"), asString("unsigned"),
asString("unsigned int"), asString("long"), asString("long int"),
asString("signed long"), asString("signed long int"),
asString("unsigned long"), asString("unsigned long int"),
asString("long long"), asString("long long int"),
asString("signed long long"), asString("signed long long int"),
asString("unsigned long long"),
asString("unsigned long long int"))));

// Match variable declarations with platform-specific fundamental integer
// types
Finder->addMatcher(
varDecl(hasType(PlatformSpecificFundamentalType)).bind("var_decl"), this);

// Match function declarations with platform-specific fundamental integer
// return types
Finder->addMatcher(
functionDecl(returns(PlatformSpecificFundamentalType)).bind("func_decl"),
this);

// Match function parameters with platform-specific fundamental integer types
Finder->addMatcher(
parmVarDecl(hasType(PlatformSpecificFundamentalType)).bind("param_decl"),
this);

// Match field declarations with platform-specific fundamental integer types
Finder->addMatcher(
fieldDecl(hasType(PlatformSpecificFundamentalType)).bind("field_decl"),
this);

// Match typedef declarations with platform-specific fundamental underlying
// types
Finder->addMatcher(
typedefDecl(hasUnderlyingType(PlatformSpecificFundamentalType))
.bind("typedef_decl"),
this);

// Match type alias declarations with platform-specific fundamental underlying
// types
Finder->addMatcher(typeAliasDecl(hasType(PlatformSpecificFundamentalType))
.bind("alias_decl"),
this);
}

void AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck::check(
const MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) {
SourceLocation Loc;
QualType QT;

if (const auto *VD = Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<VarDecl>("var_decl")) {
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Since you only ever look at matches for their location and type, you could name each match the same (bind), and do getNodeAs<ValueDecl>("<common bind name>"). Then you save all of this repetition.

Loc = VD->getLocation();
QT = VD->getType();
} else if (const auto *FD =
Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<FunctionDecl>("func_decl")) {
Loc = FD->getLocation();
QT = FD->getReturnType();
} else if (const auto *PD =
Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<ParmVarDecl>("param_decl")) {
Loc = PD->getLocation();
QT = PD->getType();
} else if (const auto *FD = Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<FieldDecl>("field_decl")) {
Loc = FD->getLocation();
QT = FD->getType();
} else if (const auto *TD =
Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<TypedefDecl>("typedef_decl")) {
Loc = TD->getLocation();
QT = TD->getUnderlyingType();
} else if (const auto *AD =
Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<TypeAliasDecl>("alias_decl")) {
Loc = AD->getLocation();
QT = AD->getUnderlyingType();
} else {
return;
}

if (Loc.isInvalid() || QT.isNull())
return;

// Get the type name for the diagnostic
std::string TypeName = QT.getAsString();

diag(Loc, "avoid using platform-dependent fundamental integer type '%0'; "
"consider using a typedef or fixed-width type instead")
<< TypeName;
}

} // namespace clang::tidy::portability
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
//===--- AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck.h - clang-tidy -------*- C++
//-*-===//
//
// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
//
//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//

#ifndef LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_PORTABILITY_AVOIDPLATFORMSPECIFICFUNDAMENTALTYPESCHECK_H
#define LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_PORTABILITY_AVOIDPLATFORMSPECIFICFUNDAMENTALTYPESCHECK_H

#include "../ClangTidyCheck.h"

namespace clang::tidy::portability {

/// Find fundamental integer types and recommend using typedefs or fixed-width
/// types.
///
/// Detects fundamental integer types (int, short, long, long long, and their
/// unsigned variants) and warns against their use due to platform-dependent
/// behavior. Excludes semantic types like char, bool, wchar_t, char16_t,
/// char32_t, size_t, and ptrdiff_t.
///
/// For the user-facing documentation see:
/// http://clang.llvm.org/extra/clang-tidy/checks/portability/avoid-platform-specific-fundamental-types.html
class AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck : public ClangTidyCheck {
public:
AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck(StringRef Name,
ClangTidyContext *Context);
void registerMatchers(ast_matchers::MatchFinder *Finder) override;
void check(const ast_matchers::MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) override;
bool isLanguageVersionSupported(const LangOptions &LangOpts) const override {
return LangOpts.CPlusPlus11;
}
std::optional<TraversalKind> getCheckTraversalKind() const override {
return TK_IgnoreUnlessSpelledInSource;
}
};

} // namespace clang::tidy::portability

#endif // LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_PORTABILITY_AVOIDPLATFORMSPECIFICFUNDAMENTALTYPESCHECK_H
1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/portability/CMakeLists.txt
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ set(LLVM_LINK_COMPONENTS
)

add_clang_library(clangTidyPortabilityModule STATIC
AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck.cpp
AvoidPragmaOnceCheck.cpp
PortabilityTidyModule.cpp
RestrictSystemIncludesCheck.cpp
Expand Down
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
#include "../ClangTidy.h"
#include "../ClangTidyModule.h"
#include "../ClangTidyModuleRegistry.h"
#include "AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck.h"
#include "AvoidPragmaOnceCheck.h"
#include "RestrictSystemIncludesCheck.h"
#include "SIMDIntrinsicsCheck.h"
Expand All @@ -21,6 +22,8 @@ namespace portability {
class PortabilityModule : public ClangTidyModule {
public:
void addCheckFactories(ClangTidyCheckFactories &CheckFactories) override {
CheckFactories.registerCheck<AvoidPlatformSpecificFundamentalTypesCheck>(
"portability-avoid-platform-specific-fundamental-types");
CheckFactories.registerCheck<AvoidPragmaOnceCheck>(
"portability-avoid-pragma-once");
CheckFactories.registerCheck<RestrictSystemIncludesCheck>(
Expand Down
1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -353,6 +353,7 @@ Clang-Tidy Checks
:doc:`performance-type-promotion-in-math-fn <performance/type-promotion-in-math-fn>`, "Yes"
:doc:`performance-unnecessary-copy-initialization <performance/unnecessary-copy-initialization>`, "Yes"
:doc:`performance-unnecessary-value-param <performance/unnecessary-value-param>`, "Yes"
:doc:`portability-avoid-platform-specific-fundamental-types <portability/avoid-platform-specific-fundamental-types>`,
:doc:`portability-avoid-pragma-once <portability/avoid-pragma-once>`,
:doc:`portability-restrict-system-includes <portability/restrict-system-includes>`, "Yes"
:doc:`portability-simd-intrinsics <portability/simd-intrinsics>`,
Expand Down
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
.. title:: clang-tidy - portability-avoid-platform-specific-fundamental-types

portability-avoid-platform-specific-fundamental-types
=====================================================

Finds fundamental types and recommends using typedefs or fixed-width types instead.

This check detects fundamental integer types (``int``, ``short``, ``long``, ``long long``, and their
``unsigned`` variants) and warns against their use due to non-standard platform-dependent behavior.
For example, ``long`` is 64 bits on Linux but 32 bits on Windows. There is no standard rationale or
intent for the sizes of these types.

Instead of fundamental types, use fixed-width types such as ``int32_t`` or implementation-defined
types with standard semantics, e.g. ``int_fast32_t`` for the fastest integer type greater than or
equal to 32 bits.

Examples
--------

.. code-block:: c++

// Bad: platform-dependent fundamental types
int global_int = 42;
short global_short = 10;
long global_long = 100L;
unsigned long global_unsigned_long = 100UL;

void function_with_int_param(int param) {
// ...
}

int function_returning_int() {
return 42;
}

struct MyStruct {
int member_int;
long member_long;
};

.. code-block:: c++

// Good: use fixed-width types or typedefs
#include <cstdint>

int32_t global_int32 = 42;
int16_t global_int16 = 10;
int64_t global_int64 = 100L;
uint64_t global_uint64 = 100UL;

void function_with_int32_param(int32_t param) {
// ...
}

int32_t function_returning_int32() {
return 42;
}

struct MyStruct {
int32_t member_int32;
int64_t member_int64;
};

The check will also warn about typedef declarations that use fundamental types as their underlying type:

.. code-block:: c++

// Bad: typedef using fundamental type
typedef long long MyLongType;
using MyIntType = int;

.. code-block:: c++

// Good: use descriptive names or fixed-width types
typedef int64_t TimestampType;
using CounterType = uint32_t;

Rationale
---------

Fundamental integer types have platform-dependent sizes and behavior:

- ``int`` is typically 32 bits on modern platforms but is only guaranteed to be 16 bits by the spec
- ``long int`` is 32 bits on Windows but 64 bits on most Unix systems

The C++ specification does not define these types beyond their minimum sizes. That means they can
communicate intent in non-standard ways and are often needlessly incompatible. For example, ``int``
was traditionally the word size of a given processor in 16-bit and 32-bit computing and was a
reasonable default for performance. This is no longer true on modern 64-bit computers, but the size
of ``int`` remains fixed at 32 bits for backwards compatibility with code that relied on a 32-bit
implementation of ``int``.

If code is explicitly relying on the size of an ``int`` being 32 bits, it is better to say so in
the typename with ``int32_t``. Otherwise, use an appropriate implementation-defined type that
communicates your intent.

Types Not Flagged
-----------------

The following types are intentionally not flagged:

- ``char``, ``signed char``, ``unsigned char`` (character types)
- ``bool`` (boolean type)
- Standard library typedefs like ``size_t``, ``ptrdiff_t``, or ``uint32_t``.
- Already typedef'd types, though the check will flag the typedef itself

``char`` is excluded because it is implementation-defined to always be 1 byte, regardless of the
platform's definition of a byte.

``bool`` is excluded because it can only be true or false, and is not vulnerable to overflow or
narrowing issues that occur as a result of using implementation-defined types.
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