Re: [Caml-list] Runtime overflow and what to do

[Pierre Weis <pierre.weis@inria.fr>]

> > [Overflow checking in integer multiplication]
> 
> > (* [lenght_of_int] is the maximum number of bits in an integer. *)
> > let length_of_int = Sys.word_size - 2;;
> > 
> > let ( * ) n m =
> >  if num_bits_int n + num_bits_int m < length_of_int
> >  then n * m else raise (Overflow ("*", string_of_int n, string_of_int m))
> > 
> > (* [num_bits_int n] returns the number of significant bits of an
> >    integer. *)
> 
> Hmmph... this definition raises Overflow when computing
> min_int * 1, or (min_int / 2) * 2, while these products are actually
> representable within a machine integer...
> 
> Apologies for nit-picking; I couldn't resist!
> 
> - Xavier Leroy

Well spotted, thank you very much!

As a reward, note that your overflow test on addition raises overflow
when computing (max_int + 1) - 1, while this sum is actually
representable within a machine integer...

Sure, computer arithmetics is tricky!

Pierre Weis

INRIA, Projet Cristal, Pierre.Weis@inria.fr, http://pauillac.inria.fr/~weis/


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