Overflow: + vs +% vs +|

Every sized integer has a maximum it can hold. Push past it and you hit overflow, the moment a value tries to grow beyond its range.

By default, the plain + operator traps overflow. In a safe build, going past the limit stops your program instead of corrupting the value.

A loud crash beats a silent wrong answer. Trapping turns a sneaky bug into an obvious failure you can find and fix fast.

Sometimes you want the value to roll over on purpose. The +% operator wraps around, so 255 + 1 in a u8 becomes 0.

Wrapping shines for counters, hashes, and checksums where roll-over is the intended behavior. You ask for it with the % suffix, never by accident.

The +| operator clamps to the limit instead of wrapping. A u8 at 255 stays 255, perfect for values that must not exceed a ceiling.

So + traps, +% wraps, and +| saturates. You pick the behavior that matches your intent, making overflow handling explicit in your code.

These suffixes are not just for addition. -, -%, and -| give you trapping, wrapping, and saturating subtraction the very same way.

Multiplication follows the pattern too: *, *%, and *|. The single rule, choose your overflow behavior, applies across the arithmetic operators.

In Debug and ReleaseSafe modes, plain operators check for overflow. You only opt out where you have a real reason to wrap or saturate.

Because each behavior has its own symbol, a reader sees your overflow intent at a glance. Nothing is assumed; the operator spells it out.

You want a u8 counter to roll over from 255 back to 0. Which operator?

Plain math traps, the % suffix wraps, and the | suffix saturates. Choose deliberately, and overflow is never a hidden surprise. 🛡️