I agree with you - As far as I&#x27;m concerned &#x27;int&#x27; and &#x27;int_least16_t&#x27;&#x2F;&#x27;int_fast16_t&#x27; are basically the same thing, or at least <i>close enough</i> to the same thing that there&#x27;s no reason not to use an int for standard simple cases. If I&#x27;m declaring a simple loop variable that&#x27;s I know is going to have a small lower-bound, I just use an int. The chances are pretty good that &#x27;int&#x27; maps to a good size for the platform, regardless of what platform it is and what it actually provides. &#x27;int_least16_t&#x27; probably does too, but it&#x27;s much more likely I have &#x27;int&#x27; around then &#x27;int_least16_t&#x27;, and between the two &#x27;int&#x27; is much more self-explanatory as to why I choose to use it.