But why is sequential a requirement? That is, in C++ I can have an enum like enum mask { BIT_0 = 0x1, BIT_1 = 0x2, BIT_2 = 0x4, BIT_3 = 0x8,

But why is sequential a requirement? That is, in C++ I can have an enum like enum mask { BIT_0 = 0x1, BIT_1 = 0x2, BIT_2 = 0x4, BIT_3 = 0x8, NIBBLE_0 = 0xF, ... }; C++ does sparse enums just fine. Are you saying that those are not "real" enums because their sparse? Or that C++ doesn't have "real" enums because it allows that? Or what?