What is size_t in C?

Question

I am getting confused with size_t in C. I know that it is returned by the sizeof operator. But what exactly is it? Is it a data type?

Let\'

Answer 1

In general, if you are starting at 0 and going upward, always use an unsigned type to avoid an overflow taking you into a negative value situation. This is critically important, because if your array bounds happens to be less than the max of your loop, but your loop max happens to be greater than the max of your type, you will wrap around negative and you may experience a segmentation fault (SIGSEGV). So, in general, never use int for a loop starting at 0 and going upwards. Use an unsigned.