overflows_type(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 overflows_type — the kernel API manual, but make it make sense

okay so bestie, welcome to overflows_type(9) from the Kernel API Manual. she's a lil helper, and her whole job is checking overflow between values, variables, or data types. lowkey iconic. ✨

✨ NAME ✨

overflows_type — a helper for checking the overflows between value, variables, or data type 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

overflows_type (n , T );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • n — the source constant value or variable you wanna check. this is your main character input 💅
  • T — the destination variable or data type that's proposed to store x. like, is T big enough to hold her? that's the vibe check fr fr

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so what she does is: she compares the x expression against T and asks the big question — can it safely fit in the storage of the type in T? 👑

x and T can have different types, and that's totally fine, no cap. and here's the slay part: if x is a constant expression, this will also resolve to a constant expression. compile-time behavior, we love to see it ✨

⭐ RETURN ⭐

  • true if overflow can occur 😭
  • false otherwise 🎉

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the whole friend group lives in the kernel file ./include/linux/overflow.h, and honestly you should meet all of them:

ngl bestie, the description genuinely says "x" even though the argument is called n — that's just how she wrote it, and we're not gonna fix her. she's perfect as she is 💜

and that's the whole page, mwah 💋 she's shipped out of ./include/linux, dated October 2026. go forth and never overflow on purpose, iykyk 🧚‍♀️🌸

📦 where this page comes from