// Carefully optimized for execution by hotspot (explanatory comment above)
    if (index < 0 || index >= size) {
      throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException(badElementIndex(index, size, desc));
    }
    return index;
  }

  private static String badElementIndex(int index, int size, String desc) {
    if (index < 0) {
      return lenientFormat("%s (%s) must not be negative", desc, index);
    } else if (size < 0) {