Addressing those doesn't create bugs, and I'm not sure why it would. Anything that changes behaviour could create bugs. Here is an example signed bar = s

Addressing those doesn't create bugs, and I'm not sure why it would. Anything that changes behaviour could create bugs. Here is an example signed bar = something_possibly_negative(); if(some_case) { bar = calc_returning_unsigned_where_MSB_is_an_error_flag(); if(bar < 0) return ERROR; } // now bar is valid, whether negative or positive. This is a correct - if dodgy - way to test the MSB. But now if you get a warning about the signed integer not having the full range of the unsigned integer you might "fix" it by changing the first line to long long bar = something_possibly_negative(); Now the signed bar covers the full range of the unsigned calculation - including the garbage in the error case. For more in this vein see: http://ithare.com/best-practices-vs-witch-hunts/ http://ithare.com/best-practices-vs-witch-hunts/