int16t

Int16_t (often written as int16_t) is a fixed-width signed integer type defined by the C standard library header stdint.h (C99 and later) and, in C++, by the cstdint header. It represents a signed integer with exactly 16 bits of width, enabling portable use where the size of integers must be predictable across different platforms.

Whether int16_t is available depends on the implementation. The type is defined only if the platform provides a signed integer type with exactly 16 bits. On many modern systems, such a type exists, but some embedded or unusual architectures may not define int16_t at all. If int16_t is not provided, the specific 16-bit fixed-width type is not available under that name.

The range and representation of int16_t are tied to the 16-bit width. On typical implementations that use two's complement representation, the ordinary range is -32768 to 32767, and corresponding macros INT16_MIN and INT16_MAX (as well as UINT16_MAX for the unsigned variant) are defined. The standard does not mandate two's complement, but it does require that the type occupies exactly 16 bits.

Int16_t is commonly used in portable code that requires a guaranteed-width integer, such as binary I/O, network protocols, file formats, and cross-platform algorithms, where using the platform’s native int could lead to size-related inconsistencies.

Notes: "int16t" without the underscore is usually a misspelling or a project-specific typedef; the standard name is int16_t. Endianness concerns byte order on storage or transmission but does not change the logical type itself.

See also: int8_t, int32_t, uint16_t, stdint.h, cstdint.