`Word' data type_(re)

Sat, 14 Jun 1997 12:59:54 -0400

I know that a byte is 8 bits, but I glanced at soemthing womewhere that the
Mac's smallest size that it can process is 16 bits   Maybe I'm
wrong?
> You mean: 16 bits?  One "Byte"?  At least this is against all
> definitions I ever saw in textbooks.

I have an idea, perhaps there could be platform dependant types, for
example: VAR MyVar : PCByte; This way it would be treated as 8-bits on all
platforms, the natural types can stay, all one has to do is use the
platform type to compensate for it if necessary. This way, 1) the data
works consistently across all platforms because (for example) they know
that a PCByte is 8 bits, 2) If a byte is a different size on another
platform, then it doesn't matter because the PCByte is the same no matter
where it's compiled. I guess this could be accomplished by making the
PCByte a natural Byte, but in the code, anything above the 8 bits is not
used.
> It would not be difficult to implement a compiler switch (*$16-bit *) (or
> ...
> GPC, it should not be 16 bits, but 64 bits!

--
See ya!
Orlando Llanes

Orlando Llanes (ollanes@accesspro.net)