explicit type conversion

explicit type conversion
cast

   <programming> (Or "cast" in {C} and elsewhere).  A programming
   construct ({syntax}) to specify that an expression's value
   should be converted to a different type.

   For example, in {C}, to convert an {integer} (usually 32 bits)
   to a {char} (usually 8 bits) we might write:

   	int i = 42;
   	char *p = &buf;
   	*p = (char) i;

   The expression "(char)" (called a "cast") converts i's value
   to char type.  Casts (including this one) are often not
   strictly necessary, due to automatic {coercions} performed by
   the compiler, but can be used to make the conversion obvious
   and to avoid warning messages.

   (1999-09-19)