Unsigned int considered harmful for Java (2014)
This post has an introduction that is noteworthy of its disrespect towards proponents of unsigned integers.<p>&quot;Oftentimes it’s a novice coming from C&#x2F;C++ or C# who has worked with unsigned types before, 
 or one who wants to guarantee no negative numbers in certain situations.&quot;<p>This is a neutral observation first and foremost. By itself there is nothing wrong with it. I would expect newcomers of a language to miss features of where they came from as well. Although it should be noted that this statement is only a gut-feeling without proper statistics to back it up.
What irks me is what comes next:<p>&quot;Said novice C&#x2F;C++&#x2F;C# programmer typically does not fully understand the semantics and ramifications
 of unsigned integers in C&#x2F;C++&#x2F;C# to begin with.&quot;<p>Not only does he presume that the newcomer does not fully understand the semantics and ramifications of unsigned values in java. He <i>also</i> asserts that this is the case for the language that they came from. How do you expect a reasonable debate to continue from here on out?
Every disagreement is settled by just stating, that the proponent just doesn&#x27;t understand the problem.<p>Now what if they understand the semantics and ramifications and still want that feature? Does a world exist for the author in which this is the case?<p>Moreover, the article is pretentious as well. The semantics of unsigned integers in java hasn&#x27;t been decided yet, so you either have to argue against each proposed model or in general.  Here, a model in which implicit type conversion from unsigned to signed values is argued against. Other possibilities are not considered. At this point I am  inclined to just step away, as there is no information about both the semantics that is being argued against (method: find it by reading it) and, whether it is the only model proposed. There is no insight to be had except that the author doesn&#x27;t want unsigned integers and is content with how it works as is (with an asterisk for bytes).<p>I do believe that the people in favour of the addition have to make a case for it. But I also thought that we were beyond arguments of the &quot;you&#x27;re holding it wrong&quot; kind. As silly as it may sound, an argument like this makes me consider the other side immediately. And I say that as someone who never felt the need for unsigned integers in Java.