Why does Splint (the C code checker) give an error when comparing a float to an int?

Question

Both are mathematical values, however the float does have more precision. Is that the only reason for the error - the difference in precision? Or is there another potential (and more serious) problem?

Answer 1

It's because the set of integer values does not equal the set of float values for the 'int' and 'float' types. For example, the float value 0.5 has no equal in the integer set and the integer value 4519245367 might not exist in the set of values a float can store. So, the checker flags this as an issue to be checked by the programmer.

Answer 2

Because it probably isn't a very good idea. Not all floats can be truncated to ints; not all ints can be converted to floats.