Hi All,

I would like to know of existing systems where CHAR_BIT of
is not equal to 8. I am particular interested in prevalent systems.

Technically, my code is mostly portable, but only within a particular
machine. Innter-machine interaction (serialization for example), there
will be problems for those machines where CHAR_BIT != 8.

Yes, yes, I know, it enough effort, I can rewrite my code to eliminate
any potential compatibilities even then, but still, it helps to
know. :)

TIA,

-Le Chaud Lapin-

On 10 Maj, 05:23, Le Chaud Lapin gmail.com> wrote:

Probably a lot of CPU's have CHAR_BIT = 16 or 32. If you plan for
porting your code to e.g. cellphones and PDAs you are likely to get
into troubles (I've programmed on a PDA that had CHAR_BIT = 16).
If you turn into more exotic architectures you are of course even more
likely to experience problems.

/Peter

On 10 ???, 07:23, Le Chaud Lapin gmail.com> wrote:

Likelihood depends on what you are targeting. But, to give a few
specific examples - some DSPs cannot operate on individual octets, so
char is whatever the word size of the architecture is - e.g. 32-bit.
There was a link to documentation for a C++ compiler for such a
platform (SHARC) given earlier in a thread titled "mixed-sign
arithmetic and auto" (which I would recommend to read, by the way - it
has some more information somewhat relevant to the topic) - here it
is:

http://www.analog.com/UploadedFiles/Associated_Docs/75285036450_SHARC_cc_man.pdf

Le Chaud Lapin wrote:

There are still a few 36-bit DEC machines running
(try Telnet to "DEC-10.PDPplanet.COM") and some Unisys
B series mainframes running 36-bit OS/2200. But when Unisys
discontinued the ClearPath 36-bit server line last year, in favor of software
emulation of the 36-bit machines for old code, commercial production of the
last non-byte-oriented hardware ended.

Le Chaud Lapin wrote:

Some TI DSPs have CHAR_BIT==16.

So long,
Thomas

Le Chaud Lapin wrote:

I am currently developing software for the BlueCore-5 chip (a Bluetooth
chip from Cambridge Silicon Radio, www.csr.com) which has CHAR_BIT ==
16.

The communication might not be a problem for the BlueCore chip. It often
uses octet-oriented communication mechanisms (UART and I2C) and handles
the conversion between byte and octet internally.
Other processors that often interface over octet-oriented mechanisms
might do the same.

On May 10, 8:14 am, John Nagle animats.com> wrote:

software

the

Has production of supercomputers ended, too?

Supercomputers generally don't have (hardware) access
for units smaller than one word, for efficiency reasons.
E.g., CDC 6600/7600 series, Crays, etc.

I used to run C++ programs on supercomputers, and there
is a subgroup of the C++ standards group interested in
C++ for numerical applications, so they are
relevant to this group.