‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

C's Flexible Integer Sizes Were Not a Design Mistake

113 points · 166 comments · ibobev

  1. usrnm · · focus · HN ↗
    But not having fixed size integers (or integers tied to the size of a pointer) was. Both can be useful
    1. quelsolaar · · focus · HN ↗
      At the time its was probably very hard to know what the fixed sizes should be.
      1. pjmlp · · focus · HN ↗
        PL/I among other systems languages predating C, had the ability to explicitly define bit sizes for its types.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.