# Subscripts and sizes should be signed (redux)

**URL:** <https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/subscripts-and-sizes-should-be-signed-redux/19296>\
**Category:** language design\
**Created:** [August 5, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/subscripts-and-sizes-should-be-signed-redux/19296 "2023-08-05T12:44:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

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**Author:** ![scottmcm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/internals.rust-lang.org/scottmcm/32/2355_2.png) [@scottmcm](https://internals.rust-lang.org/u/scottmcm)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/subscripts-and-sizes-should-be-signed-redux/19296/5 "2023-08-05T18:25:57Z")

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> [@T4r4sB](#):
>
> Rust developers have not heard of the Stroustrop article: [https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2019/p1428r0.pdf](https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2019/p1428r0.pdf) , they haven't heard of the experience of a C++ programmer (never use unsigned numbers until you really need bit representation and bitwise operations), and still use dangerous unsigned types that can cause your program to crash with simple subtraction.

This is disingenuous of you, at best. **You** brought that paper up last year (see [Subscripts and sizes should be signed - #16 by scottmcm](https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/subscripts-and-sizes-should-be-signed/17699/16)) so you really can't say that we "have not heard of [it]".

You might not like the answers from the previous discussions, but that's very different from saying Rust developers "haven't heard" the C++ experience. A great many of the original Rust designers and current Rust users come from C++ and have that experience directly.

Just because something is the right choice for C++ doesn't make it right for Rust.

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