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feat(typeck): implement implicit integer literal coercion#647

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onbjerg/int-literal-coercion
Dec 22, 2025
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feat(typeck): implement implicit integer literal coercion#647
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onbjerg/int-literal-coercion

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@onbjerg onbjerg commented Dec 17, 2025

Add implicit type coercion for integer literals (IntLiteral) to typed integers (uint/int). The coercion rules are:

  • IntLiteral -> uint: Allowed if the literal is non-negative and fits in the target size (size.bits() <= target.bits())

  • IntLiteral -> int: Allowed with strict inequality (size.bits() < target.bits()) for non-negative values due to TypeSize rounding, and non-strict for negative values

TypeSize stores ceil(bit_len/8), so int_literal[1] covers 0-255. This means we can't distinguish edge cases like 127 (fits in int8) from 128 (doesn't fit), so we conservatively require int16+ for int_literal[1].

Note: Negative literal support requires additional work in the type checker to propagate negativity through unary negation. This is provided in a follow up.

Supercedes #564 and closes #627 (closes #564)

Stack:

@onbjerg onbjerg added C-enhancement Category: an issue proposing an enhancement or a PR with one A-sema Area: semantic analysis labels Dec 17, 2025
@onbjerg onbjerg marked this pull request as ready for review December 17, 2025 00:58
@onbjerg onbjerg requested a review from DaniPopes as a code owner December 17, 2025 00:58
@onbjerg onbjerg added the S-blocked Status: this cannot more forward until something else changes label Dec 17, 2025
@onbjerg onbjerg marked this pull request as draft December 17, 2025 01:10
DaniPopes pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Dec 22, 2025
This enables distinguishing edge cases like 127 (fits in int8) from 128
(doesn't fit), which is needed for correct implicit and explicit integer
conversions.

- Changed internal storage from `u8` (bytes 0-32) to `u16` (bits 0-256)
- `TypeSize::new()` now takes bits directly
- Added `new_fb_bytes()` for fixed-bytes types that take byte counts
- `bits()` returns stored value, `bytes()` computes `ceil(bits/8)`
- `mk_ty_int_literal` no longer rounds to multiples of 8

Closes #650

Unblocks #647 #648 #649
@onbjerg onbjerg force-pushed the onbjerg/int-literal-coercion branch from 1e5aea6 to 92db371 Compare December 22, 2025 19:12
@onbjerg onbjerg removed the S-blocked Status: this cannot more forward until something else changes label Dec 22, 2025
Add implicit type coercion for integer literals (IntLiteral) to typed
integers (uint/int). The coercion rules are:

- IntLiteral -> uint: Allowed if the literal is non-negative and fits
  in the target size (size.bits() <= target.bits())

- IntLiteral -> int: Allowed with strict inequality (size.bits() <
  target.bits()) for non-negative values due to TypeSize rounding,
  and non-strict for negative values

TypeSize stores ceil(bit_len/8), so int_literal[1] covers 0-255. This
means we can't distinguish edge cases like 127 (fits in int8) from 128
(doesn't fit), so we conservatively require int16+ for int_literal[1].

Note: Negative literal support requires additional work in the type
checker to propagate negativity through unary negation.
@onbjerg onbjerg force-pushed the onbjerg/int-literal-coercion branch from 92db371 to 54d1f87 Compare December 22, 2025 19:13
@onbjerg onbjerg marked this pull request as ready for review December 22, 2025 19:13
@onbjerg onbjerg merged commit 16b0732 into main Dec 22, 2025
18 checks passed
@onbjerg onbjerg deleted the onbjerg/int-literal-coercion branch December 22, 2025 19:35
onbjerg added a commit that referenced this pull request Dec 22, 2025
Implement proper handling of negative integer literals in the type
checker. Previously, negative literals like -42 were broken because:

1. The parser represents them as unary negation applied to a positive
literal, so type_of_lit only sees the positive value
2. The negativity flag in IntLiteral was always false

This commit fixes the issue by:

- Allowing unary negation on IntLiteral types (they can always be
negated since the result is just a negative literal)
- Propagating the negativity flag when applying unary negation to an
IntLiteral, flipping neg from false to true
- Not propagating the expected type through negation when targeting
signed types, to avoid premature type mismatch errors on the inner
expression

Also simplifies the coercion rule to use strict inequality for both
positive and negative literals, since TypeSize rounding means we can't
reliably distinguish edge cases in either direction.

On top of #647 

Supercedes #566 (will mark @mablr as a co-author to commend effort) and
closes #560 (closes #566)

Stack:

- #647
- #648 (this)
- #649

Co-Authored-By: Mablr <mablr@users.noreply.github.com>
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Integer literal implicit conversion

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