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<h1>Boost Integer Library</h1>
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<th>Header / Docs</th>
<th>Contents</th>
<th>Use</th>
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<td align="center"><cite><a href="../../boost/integer_fwd.hpp"><boost/integer_fwd.hpp></a></cite></td>
<td valign="top">Forward declarations of classes and class templates</td>
<td valign="top">When just the name of a class is needed</td>
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<td align="center"><code><a href="../../boost/cstdint.hpp"><boost/cstdint.hpp><br>
</a></code><a href="cstdint.htm"><br>
documentation</a>
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<td valign="top">Typedef's based on the 1999 C Standard header <<code>stdint.h></code>, wrapped in namespace boost.
This implementation may #include the compiler
supplied <<code>stdint.h></code>, if present. </td>
<td valign="top">Supplies typedefs for standard integer types such as <code> int32_t</code> or <code>uint_least16_t</code>.
Use in preference to <<code>stdint.h></code>
for enhanced portability. Furthermore, all names are safely placed in the boost namespace.</td>
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<td align="center"><code><a href="../../boost/integer_traits.hpp"><boost/integer_traits.hpp></a></code><br>
<br>
<a href="integer_traits.html">documentation</a>
</td>
<td valign="top">Template class <code>boost::integer_traits</code>, derived from <code>std::numeric_limits</code>.
Adds <code>const_min</code> and <code>const_max</code> members.</td>
<td valign="top">Use to obtain the characteristics of a known integer type.</td>
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<td align="center"><code><a href="../../boost/integer.hpp"><boost/integer.hpp></a><br>
<br>
</code><a href="integer.htm">documentation</a></td>
<td valign="top">Templates for integer type selection based on properties such as
maximum value or number of bits.</td>
<td valign="top">Use to select the type an integer when some property such as maximum value or number of bits is known.
Useful for generic programming. </td>
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<td align="center"><code><a href="../../boost/integer/integer_mask.hpp"><boost/integer/integer_mask.hpp></a><br>
<br>
</code><a href="doc/integer_mask.html">documentation</a></td>
<td valign="top">Templates for the selection of integer masks, single or lowest group, based on the number of bits.</td>
<td valign="top">Use to select a particular mask when the bit position(s) are based on a compile-time variable.
Useful for generic programming. </td>
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<td align="center"><code><a href="../../boost/integer/static_log2.hpp"><boost/integer/static_log2.hpp></a><br>
<br>
</code><a href="doc/static_log2.html">documentation</a></td>
<td valign="top">Template for finding the highest power of two in a number.</td>
<td valign="top">Use to find the bit-size/range based on a maximum value.
Useful for generic programming. </td>
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<td align="center"><code><a href="../../boost/integer/static_min_max.hpp"><boost/integer/static_min_max.hpp></a><br>
<br>
</code><a href="doc/static_min_max.html">documentation</a></td>
<td valign="top">Templates for finding the extrema of two numbers.</td>
<td valign="top">Use to find a bound based on a minimum or maximum value.
Useful for generic programming. </td>
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<h2>Rationale</h2>
<p>The organization of boost integer headers and classes is designed to
take advantage of <cite><stdint.h></cite> types from the 1999 C
standard without resorting to undefined behavior in terms of the 1998
C++ standard. The header <cite><boost/cstdint.hpp></cite> makes
the standard integer types safely available in namespace
<code>boost</code> without placing any names in namespace
<code>std</code>. As always, the intension is to complement rather than
compete with the C++ Standard Library. Should some future C++ standard
include <cite><stdint.h></cite> and <cite><cstdint></cite>,
then <cite><boost/cstdint.hpp></cite> will continue to function,
but will become redundant and may be safely deprecated.</p>
<p>Because these are boost headers, their names conform to boost header
naming conventions rather than C++ Standard Library header naming
conventions.</p>
<h2><i>Caveat emptor</i></h2>
<p>As an implementation artifact, certain C
<cite><limits.h></cite> macro names may possibly be visible to
users of <cite><boost/cstdint.hpp></cite>. Don't use these
macros; they are not part of any Boost-specified interface. Use
<code>boost::integer_traits<></code> or
<code>std::numeric_limits<></code> instead.</p>
<p>As another implementation artifact, certain C
<cite><stdint.h></cite> typedef names may possibly be visible in
the global namespace to users of <cite><boost/cstdint.hpp></cite>.
Don't use these names, they are not part of any Boost-specified
interface. Use the respective names in namespace <code>boost</code>
instead.</p>
<hr>
<p>Revised: <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %b %Y" startspan -->03 Oct 2001<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="14373" -->
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