Cute but wouldn't work with ssize_t :)

VHDL's array/vector syntax actually works a similar way:

-- gives 0, 1, 2, 3:

for i in 0 to 3 loop

-- gives 3, 2, 1, 0:

for i in 3 downto 0 loop

-- Source - https://stackoverflow.com/a/7642026 -- Posted by Kerrek SB -- Retrieved 2026-10-29, License - CC BY-SA 3.0

That's a certain kind of taste... I checked out your home page, game dev, check, and this work of art is worth linking (no irony, I love it):

http://maulingmonkey.com/brainfuck/

Always.

(Hi Ken!)

Oh I remember this from the classic SO post, but it was just presented as a funny trick. I never realized that it solves the issue mentioned in the article and there is a legitimate use-case for post-decrement in the comparison itself.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1642028/what-is-the-oper...

I always use unsigned values and do:

  while (i-- != 0) { ... }

It's more clear than the most idiomatic way, which is to drop the explicit comparison:

  while (i--) { ... }
 

All of it is better than the clunky old for-loop syntax.