Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: BSD bzero() & NULL
Message-ID: <1990Nov15.165616.6429@zoo.toronto.edu>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <AbEJW8e00VQfE4N0I3@andrew.cmu.edu> <1990Nov15.000129.27402@Think.COM> <RJC.90Nov15073451@brodie.uk.ac.ed.cstr>
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 16:56:16 GMT

In article <RJC.90Nov15073451@brodie.uk.ac.ed.cstr> rjc@uk.ac.ed.cstr (Richard Caley) writes:
>Does the standard demand that the bit pattern for then integer 0 be
>`all zeros'...

The standard demands that integer types use a "pure binary numeration
system", which is nailed down in detail in another ANSI standard.

Of course, an implementation can do whatever it pleases provided that the
observable behavior is identical to what the standard calls for.  This
includes the bit patterns written to files, however.
-- 
"I don't *want* to be normal!"         | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
"Not to worry."                        |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry