Solidity SafeMath support for uint64

Question

So commonly used snippet for safeMath in solidity is the following: https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-solidity/blob/64c324e37c17c5e0501bb746975040d1ae020806/contracts/math/SafeMath.sol

pragma solidity ^0.4.24;


/**
 * @title SafeMath
 * @dev Math operations with safety checks that revert on error
 */
library SafeMath {

  /**
  * @dev Multiplies two numbers, reverts on overflow.
  */
  function mul(uint256 _a, uint256 _b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
    // Gas optimization: this is cheaper than requiring 'a' not being zero, but the
    // benefit is lost if 'b' is also tested.
    // See: https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-solidity/pull/522
    if (_a == 0) {
      return 0;
    }

    uint256 c = _a * _b;
    require(c / _a == _b);

    return c;
  }

  /**
  * @dev Integer division of two numbers truncating the quotient, reverts on division by zero.
  */
  function div(uint256 _a, uint256 _b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
    require(_b > 0); // Solidity only automatically asserts when dividing by 0
    uint256 c = _a / _b;
    // assert(_a == _b * c + _a % _b); // There is no case in which this doesn't hold

    return c;
  }

  /**
  * @dev Subtracts two numbers, reverts on overflow (i.e. if subtrahend is greater than minuend).
  */
  function sub(uint256 _a, uint256 _b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
    require(_b <= _a);
    uint256 c = _a - _b;

    return c;
  }

  /**
  * @dev Adds two numbers, reverts on overflow.
  */
  function add(uint256 _a, uint256 _b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
    uint256 c = _a + _b;
    require(c >= _a);

    return c;
  }

  /**
  * @dev Divides two numbers and returns the remainder (unsigned integer modulo),
  * reverts when dividing by zero.
  */
  function mod(uint256 a, uint256 b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
    require(b != 0);
    return a % b;
  }
}

If I want to use the same approach for uint64, can I just find & replace uint256 with uint64?

Answer 1

If your problem is mainly to avoid under/overflow yes, you can do something similar with any integer, even if in the case of integer smaller than uint256.

The problem you, in general, have to face is that EVM manages best uint256 than uint64 and, in particular, it can consume less gas in adding two uint256 than in adding two uint64.

So evaluate if it is useful to use them.

Anyway you can surely rewrite tha safemath for uint64 without modifications but the size of integers involved.