---
id: cint
version: "1.0.0"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# cint — cint - make ctypes great again

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 930.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

cint is a thin wrapper around ctypes integer types (I8, U16, I32, U64, etc.) that makes arithmetic operations follow C semantics instead of Python's unlimited-precision integers. When you add, multiply, or otherwise operate on cint values, they overflow and underflow exactly as they would in C, and when you mix types in a calculation, the result automatically promotes to the larger or unsigned type, just like C's type promotion rules.

This is useful when reverse-engineering C programs, porting C algorithms to Python while preserving their exact numeric behavior, or interpreting raw binary data that was originally processed by C code. You construct a cint value with the type and initial value, then use it in normal Python arithmetic—the overflow and type conversion happen transparently.

Use it for:

- Reverse-engineer C programs by replicating their integer arithmetic behavior exactly, including overflows and type promotions.
- Port a C random-number generator or algorithm to Python while preserving the original's numeric semantics.
- Interpret signed integers as unsigned to display them in readable hex form.
- Validate or test C code logic by running it through Python with identical integer behavior.
- Handle binary protocol parsing where integer fields must behave exactly as the C implementation that created them.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Wraps ctypes integer types to perform arithmetic with C-like overflow and type-promotion semantics, so operations behave exactly as they would in C rather than Python.

Yes, if you need exact C integer semantics in Python. The package has no dependencies, installs easily, carries no security vulnerabilities, and is permissively licensed. The main caveat is that it has not been updated since 2019—acceptable for a narrow, stable utility, but verify that its overflow behavior matches your specific C compiler and platform before relying on it for critical work.

## Install

pip install cint
uv add cint
poetry add cint

## Installing cint

Before you install: Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies. The package is aging—last release was 2019-03-19 and no updates since—but the repository remains unarchived as of 2026-01-06.

License in practice: Licensed under MIT (permissive), so you can use it freely in commercial or private projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install cint

from cint import I8, U16

x = I8(127)
result = x + 1  # I8(-128) due to overflow
y = x + U16(1)  # U16(128) due to type promotion

Verify before relying:

- Whether overflow behavior is correct across all supported integer types and edge cases on modern platforms.
- Actual compatibility with Python 2.7 given the long time since last release.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 930.4K/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

ctypes integer overflow, C-style integer arithmetic, signed unsigned type promotion, integer overflow behavior, ctypes wrapper arithmetic, c integer semantics python, ctypes-wrapper, reverse-engineering, c-semantics

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