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Re: Is char obsolete?

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On Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:04:14 +0000, Lauri Alanko wrote:

> Firstly, I'm talking specifically about the type "char". The
> types "signed char" and "unsigned char" are perfectly
> useful (though idiosyncratically named) integer types for
> operating on the smallest addressable memory
> units (a.k.a. bytes).
> 
> The type "char" is distinct from these, and it is strictly less
> useful as an integer (due to its implementation-specific
> signedness). So the only justification for it that I can see is
> that it serves as a semantic annotation: a char is a byte that is
> intended to be interpreted as a character in the basic execution
> character set.

It has another justification: efficiency. Most of the time, you don't
actually care whether char is signed or unsigned, or even integral for
that matter.

> The standard library uses the type "char *" for its
> representation of strings:

> In any case, we are not forced to use the standard library as
> such.

You are if you want to interface to the OS. Aside from the ANSI/ISO C
functions, the Unix API uses char* extensively (Windows, OTOH, uses wide
characters).

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Is char obsolete? Lauri Alanko <la@iki.fi> - 2011-04-08 13:06 +0000
  Re: Is char obsolete? Chris H <chris@phaedsys.org> - 2011-04-08 14:55 +0100
  Re: Is char obsolete? Thomas Richter <thor@math.tu-berlin.de> - 2011-04-08 17:04 +0200
    Re: Is char obsolete? Chris H <chris@phaedsys.org> - 2011-04-08 16:32 +0100
      Re: Is char obsolete? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-04-08 17:02 +0100
      Re: Is char obsolete? Thomas Richter <thor@math.tu-berlin.de> - 2011-04-09 21:57 +0200
        Re: Is char obsolete? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-04-09 16:47 -0400
          Re: Is char obsolete? William Ahern <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2011-04-09 15:10 -0700
            Re: Is char obsolete? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-04-09 18:44 -0400
  Re: Is char obsolete? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-04-08 16:13 +0100
    Re: Is char obsolete? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-04-08 12:55 -0700
      Re: Is char obsolete? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-04-08 22:16 +0100
  Re: Is char obsolete? Lauri Alanko <la@iki.fi> - 2011-04-08 17:04 +0000
    Re: Is char obsolete? Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2011-04-08 20:10 +0100
      Re: Is char obsolete? "robertwessel2@yahoo.com" <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2011-04-08 15:43 -0700
        Re: Is char obsolete? Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2011-04-09 22:44 +0100
    Re: Is char obsolete? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2011-04-08 21:04 +0100
      Re: Is char obsolete? William Ahern <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2011-04-08 15:01 -0700
        Re: Is char obsolete? Lauri Alanko <la@iki.fi> - 2011-04-09 14:27 +0000
          Re: Is char obsolete? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2011-04-09 19:14 +0100
          Re: Is char obsolete? William Ahern <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2011-04-09 12:02 -0700
    Re: Is char obsolete? Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2011-04-09 09:40 +1200
  Re: Is char obsolete? Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> - 2011-04-08 23:07 +0200

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