Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!CORY.BERKELEY.EDU!dillon
From: dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga programmer's hint $14
Message-ID: <8803032106.AA06910@cory.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 3 Mar 88 21:06:10 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Lines: 28

>generate code.  For instance, 
>    int foo;
>    float bar;
>    bar = (float) foo;
>should generate code to convert foo to a float.  Furthermore, the result of
>a cast is an rvalue.  That is why you can't always use casts on the left
>side of an assignment.  Now, some compilers, like the BSD vax compiler

	On the left side of an assignment?  Yow! That isn't C.  Still, if
you want to cheat you can get around the automatic type conversion:

	int foo;
	float bar;
	bar = *(float *)&foo;	/*sizeof(float) had better equal sizeof(int)*/
				/*for this to work	*/

	Believe it or not, I have seen people do this!  Actually, this sort
of thing is useful in certain cases.  But I digress.  As far as C goes,
this is the deal with casts:

	(anycast)variable = variable;		NOT LEGAL
	variable = &(anycast)variable;		NOT LEGAL

	variable = (somecasts)&variable;	LEGAL

	char c = *(char *)&bar;			LEGAL. (USEFUL?)


					-Matt