type_safe

> If you are relying on everybody who reads code that uses your type to have thoroughly scoured all the documentation, you are Doing It Wrong. As fluoridation indicated, this is the norm in C programming. By means of example, in the OpenCL C library, bitfields all use the same type. You have to consult a function's documentation to know what you're allowed to pass. [0] I do agree that the 'Ada-style' approach to types is far superior to the 'C-style', but Doing It Wrong seems a bit strong, unless you want to condemn all C code. With the right library you can use the 'Ada-style' in C++. Specifically, using a 'strong typedef' library which prevents implicit conversions, such as [1], but not Boost's strong_typedef which permits implicit conversion back to the underlying type. Unfortunately this kind of thing isn't possible in C. > Programmer

Here's an example of a similar library: https://github.com/foonathan/type_safe

I agree, the 'microtype' pattern can be a good way of getting the type-checker to catch silly mistakes. In Ada it's standard practice. In C++ you really need a library to do it easily, but there's a good one out there ready to go: https://github.com/foonathan/type_safe/

In C++, you can for example: 1. Manage resources with RAII (though, in C you could use non-portable attribute cleanup in similar manner). 2. Use type safe wrappers around builtin types like in [0] and [1]. 3. Use containers with more extensive bounds checking and iteration validity checks [1]. This could help detect some of those bugs at runtime, or even possibly prevent them from being written in the first place. Use of uninitialized value could be prevented with types that require explicit initialization or have default one (Bug 1). Left shifting a negative value could have been caught at runtime (Bug 2). Bounds check could prevent uninitialized memory read (Bug 3) Type safe wrappers could prevent an accidental promotion from being written in the first place (Bug 5). Though, you need to go out of your way to actually do all those things