Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!sri-spam!ames!oliveb!epimass!jbuck From: jbuck@epimass.EPI.COM (Joe Buck) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: How big is a (??? *) Message-ID: <1243@epimass.EPI.COM> Date: Mon, 8-Jun-87 21:41:56 EDT Article-I.D.: epimass.1243 Posted: Mon Jun 8 21:41:56 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Jun-87 05:55:22 EDT References: <737@edge.UUCP> <790@mcgill-vision.UUCP> Reply-To: jbuck@epimass.EPI.COM (Joe Buck) Organization: Entropic Processing, Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 18 In article <790@mcgill-vision.UUCP> mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) writes: >> Possibility #1: We cavalierly declare that no pointers are longer >> than char pointers: >This should work, but not because of the reason you quoted. K&R says, >and presumably ANSI follows them in saying, that a pointer to any >object can be cast to a pointer to any smaller object and back without >change. Since a char is the smallest object available, any pointer can >be cast to (char *) and back without change. Ah, but what about pointers to functions? There are models for the 80x86 architecture (boy, I'm glad I don't have to program that thing) where pointers to data are 16 bits and pointers to functions are 32 bits. In cases like this, a char pointer isn't wide enough. -- - Joe Buck jbuck@epimass.EPI.COM (in the brave new world of domains!) {seismo,ucbvax,sun,decwrl,}!epimass.epi.com!jbuck