Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!whyvax.dec.com!kruger
From: kruger@whyvax.dec.com (I've got 50nS memory. What did you say?)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: structures are ordered
Message-ID: <8802192217.AA16319@decwrl.dec.com>
Date: 20 Feb 88 01:12:00 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 9

The best example is for bitfields.

Structures of bitfields are often used as a non-portable way of accessing
physical bits of a specific register. As C is often used as a high-level
assembler, this is a non-trivial purpose, and one you cannot afford to break
by allowing rearrangement. Programmers must be able to count on the ordered
arrangement of structure members.

dov