Integers

An integer is a number without a fractional component, like 42 or -123. Acton has multiple integer types, which are used to represent different ranges of numbers. Signed numbers, whose type start with i followed by the number of bits, can represent both positive and negative numbers, while unsigned numbers, starting with u can only represent positive numbers.

Type Min Max 
i16
 -32768 32767 
i32
 -2147483648 2147483647 
i64
 -9223372036854775808 9223372036854775807 
u16
 0 65535 
u32
 0 4294967295 
u64
 0 18446744073709551615 
int
 arbitrary arbitrary

int provides arbitrary precision, meaning it can represent any integer value, regardless of its size. This is useful when you need to work with very large numbers, but it comes with a significant performance cost compared to the fixed size integer. If you don't need arbitrary precision, it's better to use a fixed-size integer type.

You can convert between integer types by calling the instructor for a particular type, like i16(42). This is safe when converting to a larger integer type. When converting to a smaller integer type, the value must be within the range of the smaller type, otherwise, an error will be thrown. Ensure that your values are small enough to fit in the target type. For example, you can convert an i32 to an i16 if the value is between -32768 and 32767.

Assign the value 123456789 to a of type u16.

 
a: u32 = 123456789

Convert to an i64 by calling the i64() constructor.

 
b = i64(a)

Ensure the value is within the range of a u16 through an if statement or default to 42.

 
c = u16(a) if a < 65536 else u16(42)

Attempt to convert to a u16, which will fail because 123456789 is too large. A ValueError will be thrown.

 
c = u16(a)

Convert to a u16 by first using modulo to ensure the value is within the range of a u16 and discarding the rest.

 
c = u16(a % (2 ** 16))