In the C API, most sizes are stored using an int, and not an unsigned int. Is there a case where a size would ever be negative? If not, why is int used?
Not sure if this is specifically why, but the google style guide has a section about this: Google C++ Style Guide. They make this recommendation:
In particular, do not use unsigned types to say a number will never be negative. Instead, use assertions for this.
The problem with unsigned ints is that assert(x >= 0) passes trivially.
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