----Original Message---- From: Simon Buchan [mailto:simon@hand-multimedia.co.nz] Sent: 29 September 2005 10:21 To: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: Re: [boost] [integer] Create (u)int_natural_t
Daryle Walker wrote:
The "int" type was supposed to match the processor's natural built-in integer processor. That was easy to maintain in the 16- and 32-bit eras, but got screwed up when we started 64-bit computing. The C and C++ communities decided to expand its integer types by keeping the current types at their 32-bit-era sizes and extended the type system with a "long long" instead of moving "int" and "long" up and adding a "short short". Now we don't have a convenient way to name the best integer type in a portable fashion. I suggest we add a "int_natural_t" typedef to <boost/cstdint.hpp> to name the best integer type (and a corresponding "uint_natural_t"). We would have to research what that type is for each compiler and/or platform combination and use #conditionals.
Isn't int the 'natural' integer type, by definition? Depends what you mean by "natural", but for a normal English meaning,
I don't think it's worth it. The performance difference between a 16-bit integer and 32-bit integer on a PDP-11 was pretty significant. Is there any noticable difference between a 32-bit and 64-bit integer on any of the 64-bit processors? probably not.
I never understood why long didn't become the 64-bit type. It seems pointless to have int and long the same size on 32-bit.
Oh god no! The thread that would not die! This has been argued to death on comp.std.c. The reason long didn't become the 64-bit type is that most commercial C compiler vendors wanted to continue to support code their customers had written that assumed long was exactly four eight-bit bytes. You can argue as long as you like that the problem is in that code (and I would agree with you). It won't change the fact that telling your customers they are wrong is not usually the route to commercial success.
Who still writes 16-bit code on desktop, anyway? :D Nobody ... but who still writes for the desktop? Think about the number of car radios (as just one example) compared to the number of PCs. -- Martin Bonner Martin.Bonner@Pitechnology.com Pi Technology, Milton Hall, Ely Road, Milton, Cambridge, CB4 6WZ, ENGLAND Tel: +44 (0)1223 441434