Use of integer where enum is preferred¶
ID: cpp/integer-used-for-enum
Kind: problem
Security severity:
Severity: warning
Precision: medium
Tags:
- maintainability
- readability
- language-features
- external/jsf
Query suites:
- cpp-security-and-quality.qls
Click to see the query in the CodeQL repository
This rule finds switch statements that use an integer instead of an enumeration. Enumerations are preferred when dealing with a limited number of choices as they makes it easier to see if a case has been left out.
Recommendation¶
Use an enumeration instead of an integer to represent a limited set of choices.
Example¶
typedef enum {
CASE_VAL1,
CASE_VAL2
} caseVals;
void f() {
int caseVal;
//Wrong: switch statement uses an integer
switch(caseVal) {
case 1:
//...
case 0xFF:
//...
default:
//...
}
//Correct: switch statement uses enum. It is easier to see if a case
//has been left out, and that all cases are valid values
caseVals caseVal2;
switch (caseVal2) {
case CASE_VAL1:
//...
case CASE_VAL2:
//...
default:
}
}
References¶
AV Rule 148, Joint Strike Fighter Air Vehicle C++ Coding Standards. Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2005.