<
programming> (Or "cast" in
C and elsewhere). A programming
construct (
syntax) to specify that an expression's value
should be converted to a different
type.
For example, in
C, to convert an
integer (usually 32 bits)
to a
char (usually 8 bits) we might write:
int i = 42;
char *p = &buf;
*p = (char) i;
The expression "(char)" (called a "cast") converts i's value
to char
type. Casts (including this one) are often not
strictly necessary, due to automatic
coercions performed by
the compiler, but can be used to make the conversion obvious
and to avoid warning messages.
(1999-09-19)