Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!steinmetz!davidsen
From: davidsen@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Re: More than 32 bits needed where?
Message-ID: <9618@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>
Date: 19 Feb 88 17:29:38 GMT
References: <235@unicom.UUCP> <28200089@ccvaxa> <3104@watcgl.waterloo.edu> <4340@ames.arpa> <1333@vaxb.calgary.UUCP> <41350@sun.uucp> <9495@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> <4679@ames.arpa> <3671@diku.dk>
Reply-To: davidsen@kbsvax.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr)
Organization: General Electric CRD, Schenectady, NY
Lines: 22

In article <3671@diku.dk> keld@diku.dk (Keld J|rn Simonsen) writes:
> [...]
>Other uses of more that 32 bits is for social security numbers.
>They are 10 digits here in Denmark, and that needs 34 bits.
>Other countries may have even longer numbers.  I think 64 bit
>integers are needed! And has to be supported by languages as C!

  I proposed to the ANSI C (X3J11) committee that we have a more
independent way of specifying required precision, such as "int*4 foo"
or some such. It was rejected as not in the spirit of the languageand
"too much like FORTRAN." Additional float precision is specified as
"long double," which I admit is in the spirit of the language. I left
the committee after two years dur to lack of time, so I am probably not
up on all the changes since then.
>
>Keld Simonsen, U of Copenhagen    keld@diku.dk  uunet!diku!keld


-- 
	bill davidsen		(wedu@ge-crd.arpa)
  {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me