Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!necntc!ima!haddock!karl
From: karl@haddock.ISC.COM (Karl Heuer)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Question on structures
Message-ID: <1656@haddock.ISC.COM>
Date: Tue, 10-Nov-87 11:59:20 EST
Article-I.D.: haddock.1656
Posted: Tue Nov 10 11:59:20 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Nov-87 21:37:25 EST
References: <1025@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <8888@utzoo.UUCP> <608@l.cc.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: karl@haddock.ima.isc.com (Karl Heuer)
Organization: Interactive Systems, Boston
Lines: 21

In article <608@l.cc.purdue.edu> cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:
>Since "a pointer is a pointer is a pointer", someone like myself who does not
>believe in requiring strong typing would like to have a type "pointer" which
>can be any type of pointer.  This would help since I could use pointer array.

/* ENFLAME */
Since all the world's a VAX, someone like yourself would probably be better
off using assembler.
/* DEFLAME */

There is a "universal pointer type"; it's called "char *" in K&R C and
"void *" in ANSI.  (Added to distinguish generic pointers from char pointers,
but otherwise pretty much equivalent to "char *".)  What this means is that
any pointer type can be cast into "void *" and back again.  It does not imply
that all pointer types are the same format or size.

The existence of "pointer to array" is an independent issue.  In a sense, it's
always been legal, but PCC-based compilers have traditionally misinterpreted
any attempts to use such an object.  ANSI has fixed this.

Karl W. Z. Heuer (ima!haddock!karl or karl@haddock.isc.com), The Walking Lint