• Andrew Fedoniouk (15/15) Feb 16 2006 Strictly speaking 'byte' is a name of data storage unit and
• nick (26/42) Feb 17 2006 Since a definition is something that most people agree on, there isn't a
• Marco Matthies (19/30) Feb 17 2006 This ("smallest addressable unit") is not the definition of byte (e.g.
• S. Chancellor (5/14) Feb 17 2006 This is very common in cross platform C applications. Typdefs from the ...
• Walter Bright (4/22) Feb 17 2006 This is unnecessary in D, as ints are 32 bits everywhere. A typedef or o...
• Bruno Medeiros (8/34) Feb 18 2006 Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases....
• Walter Bright (3/6) Feb 18 2006 import std.stdint;
• Jarrett Billingsley (4/10) Feb 18 2006 Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ? int8_...
• Walter Bright (5/17) Feb 18 2006 I agree it's ugly, but the names were taken from C's . That make...
• Jarrett Billingsley (8/11) Feb 18 2006 You could just change it altogether, since it's easy to globally search ...
• Marco Matthies (4/9) Feb 18 2006 Well here is one example: qemu. No doubt a bazillion C programs don't
• Walter Bright (6/8) Feb 19 2006 If it was changed, there'd inevitably be someone who thought it would be...
• Chris Miller (4/25) Feb 18 2006 Could deprecate them, and/or have them in std.c.stdint, and add ones
• =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Anders_F_Bj=F6rklund?= (10/12) Feb 19 2006 It also appears on "size_t", the type of the array .length attribute...
• James Dunne (17/34) Feb 20 2006 FYI, the -i plural suffix only applies to words that end in 'us', not
• John C (11/44) Feb 20 2006 Call me a pedant (it wouldn't be the first time), but 'bus' is just one ...
• James Dunne (13/75) Feb 21 2006 Learn something new everyday. I did know 'bus' was short for something,...
• Georg Wrede (2/72) Feb 22 2006 So be it. Then you probably know the pluralis of 'sauna'.
• Jarrett Billingsley (4/8) Feb 20 2006 Ah!
• Bruno Medeiros (8/17) Feb 18 2006 Hum, interesting, didn't remember about that. Nice, but should also: not...

"Andrew Fedoniouk" <news terrainformatica.com> writes:

Strictly speaking 'byte' is a name of data storage unit  and
not a name of numeric type. And by definition it is smallest addressable
unit by particular processor. ( Some DSP can address only 32bit bytes  for 
example )

So word combinations "signed byte" and "unsigned byte" are
technically incorrect.

Ideally (mathematically correct) it should be something like
int8, int16, int32, int64 and
nat8, nat16, nat32, nat64 for "unsigned"
real16, real32, real64, etc.

At least 'byte' should be unsigned numeric type ("what is max number stored 
in byte?")
as 'word' and 'dword'.

Andrew Fedoniouk.
http://terrainformatica.com

nick <nick.atamas gmail.com> writes:

Since a definition is something that most people agree on, there isn't a
right and a wrong in these discussions. There is just consistent and
inconsistent. For our purposes, a 'byte' and a 'ubyte' make sense
because most people understand what those tokens mean; therefore they
are consistent.

Andrew Fedoniouk wrote:
 Strictly speaking 'byte' is a name of data storage unit  and
 not a name of numeric type.

True, but D is meant to be a systems language as well, in which case it
needs to support low level access to data storage units present in hardware.

 And by definition it is smallest addressable
 unit by particular processor.( Some DSP can address only 32bit bytes  for 
 example )

That's a less commonly accepted meaning of the word 'byte' and it
usually used in more specific contexts. Generally people would say that
a byte is 8 bits.

 So word combinations "signed byte" and "unsigned byte" are
 technically incorrect.

I don't see why. Signed means the byte is treated as 2's complement and
unsigned means it's not.

I would be totally cool with the concept of a 'byte' being just 8 bits.
However, I start getting crazy ideas like disallowing any arithmetic on
bytes, since they are just collections of bits.

 Ideally (mathematically correct) it should be something like
 int8, int16, int32, int64 and
 nat8, nat16, nat32, nat64 for "unsigned"
 real16, real32, real64, etc.

But computers != maths. A float is an IEEE754-compliant representation
of a number; it's not really a 'real'. If it was a real it wouldn't have
rounding errors and such.



Below, I am just trying to illustrate that there is no end to being
picky with definitions...

 At least 'byte' should be unsigned numeric type ("what is max number stored 
 in byte?")
 as 'word' and 'dword'.

The notion of a byte being a "data storage unit" means that technically
there is no maximum number stored in a byte. Instead, we assign meaning
to different configurations that a byte can take on (of which there are
256). For example, you could say 0xFF means 'infinity' or it can mean
'42', or it can mean 'I <3 PONIES'.

 Andrew Fedoniouk.
 http://terrainformatica.com

Marco Matthies <mcm-news moinmarco.de> writes:

Andrew Fedoniouk wrote:
 Strictly speaking 'byte' is a name of data storage unit  and
 not a name of numeric type.

True.

 And by definition it is smallest addressable
 unit by particular processor. ( Some DSP can address only 32bit bytes  for 
 example )

This ("smallest addressable unit") is not the definition of byte (e.g. 
certain architectures do not allow loads which are not 32-bit aligned 
and always load a 32-bit quantity but still have byte == 8 bits).

Historically, it just meant tuple (or array if you want) of bits with an 
architecture dependent length (e.g. 6-bit bytes were the first used 
byte-size as the machines of long ago used 6-bit character sets). Well 
then was then and now is now, and nowadays everyone usually means "8 
bits" when they say "byte".

 So word combinations "signed byte" and "unsigned byte" are
 technically incorrect.
 Ideally (mathematically correct) it should be something like
 int8, int16, int32, int64 and
 nat8, nat16, nat32, nat64 for "unsigned"
 real16, real32, real64, etc.

I like your idea, here is my variation on it:

int8,  int16,  int32,  int64,  int128
uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, uint128
float32,  float64,  float80,  float128
ifloat32, ifloat64, ifloat80, ifloat128
cfloat32, cfloat64, cfloat80, cfloat128

But you'd actually have to look at code containing lots of this -- 
perhaps it just turns out too ugly.

Marco

S. Chancellor <S._member pathlink.com> writes:

In article <dt5ba1$h5n$1 digitaldaemon.com>, Marco Matthies says...

I like your idea, here is my variation on it:

int8,  int16,  int32,  int64,  int128
uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, uint128
float32,  float64,  float80,  float128
ifloat32, ifloat64, ifloat80, ifloat128
cfloat32, cfloat64, cfloat80, cfloat128

But you'd actually have to look at code containing lots of this -- 
perhaps it just turns out too ugly.

Marco

This is very common in cross platform C applications.  Typdefs from the types of
a specific artitecture to these size style types so they don't have to remember
what arch they're on everywhere.  It doesn't look bad to me at all.

-S.

"Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> writes:

"S. Chancellor" <S._member pathlink.com> wrote in message 
news:dt5do3$jh1$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 In article <dt5ba1$h5n$1 digitaldaemon.com>, Marco Matthies says...

I like your idea, here is my variation on it:

int8,  int16,  int32,  int64,  int128
uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, uint128
float32,  float64,  float80,  float128
ifloat32, ifloat64, ifloat80, ifloat128
cfloat32, cfloat64, cfloat80, cfloat128

But you'd actually have to look at code containing lots of this -- 
perhaps it just turns out too ugly.

Marco

 This is very common in cross platform C applications.  Typdefs from the 
 types of
 a specific artitecture to these size style types so they don't have to 
 remember
 what arch they're on everywhere.  It doesn't look bad to me at all.

This is unnecessary in D, as ints are 32 bits everywhere. A typedef or other 
reminder isn't necessary. 

Bruno Medeiros <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> writes:

Walter Bright wrote:
 "S. Chancellor" <S._member pathlink.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt5do3$jh1$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 In article <dt5ba1$h5n$1 digitaldaemon.com>, Marco Matthies says...

 I like your idea, here is my variation on it:

 int8,  int16,  int32,  int64,  int128
 uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, uint128
 float32,  float64,  float80,  float128
 ifloat32, ifloat64, ifloat80, ifloat128
 cfloat32, cfloat64, cfloat80, cfloat128

 But you'd actually have to look at code containing lots of this -- 
 perhaps it just turns out too ugly.

 Marco

 This is very common in cross platform C applications.  Typdefs from the 
 types of
 a specific artitecture to these size style types so they don't have to 
 remember
 what arch they're on everywhere.  It doesn't look bad to me at all.

 
 This is unnecessary in D, as ints are 32 bits everywhere. A typedef or other 
 reminder isn't necessary. 
 
 

Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the 
new names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.


-- 
Bruno Medeiros - CS/E student
"Certain aspects of D are a pathway to many abilities some consider to 
be... unnatural."

"Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> writes:

"Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
 It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the new 
 names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

import std.stdint;

"Jarrett Billingsley" <kb3ctd2 yahoo.com> writes:

"Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
news:dt7mur$2hvs$2 digitaldaemon.com...
 "Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
 It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the new 
 names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

 import std.stdint;

Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?  int8_t 
has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK. 

"Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> writes:

"Jarrett Billingsley" <kb3ctd2 yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:dt7q7f$2kfm$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 "Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt7mur$2hvs$2 digitaldaemon.com...
 "Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
 It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the 
 new names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

 import std.stdint;

 Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?  int8_t 
 has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK.

I agree it's ugly, but the names were taken from C's <stdint>. That makes it 
convenient for porting from C, and for those who like the C stuff. Having 
yet a third set of names would be a bit too redundant. 

"Jarrett Billingsley" <kb3ctd2 yahoo.com> writes:

"Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
news:dt7uv8$2p0l$2 digitaldaemon.com...
 I agree it's ugly, but the names were taken from C's <stdint>. That makes 
 it convenient for porting from C, and for those who like the C stuff. 
 Having yet a third set of names would be a bit too redundant.

You could just change it altogether, since it's easy to globally search and 
replace for intxx_t.  Besides, how many C programs have you seen that 
_actually use the stdints_?  It seems every open-source project out there 
has its own set of defines or typedefs to rename the types whatever they 
want, be it int8, byte, i8 or something else altogether.

Of course, this is never going to change, so I'm not sure why I even bother. 

Marco Matthies <mcm-news moinmarco.de> writes:

Jarrett Billingsley wrote:
 You could just change it altogether, since it's easy to globally search and 
 replace for intxx_t.  Besides, how many C programs have you seen that 
 _actually use the stdints_?  It seems every open-source project out there 
 has its own set of defines or typedefs to rename the types whatever they 
 want, be it int8, byte, i8 or something else altogether.

Well here is one example: qemu.  No doubt a bazillion C programs don't 
use stdint.h, but that is probably due to the fact it only appeared in C99.

Marco

"Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> writes:

"Jarrett Billingsley" <kb3ctd2 yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:dt7vhe$2phg$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Of course, this is never going to change, so I'm not sure why I even 
 bother.

If it was changed, there'd inevitably be someone who thought it would be a 
great idea to use the stdint.h names and who'd think ill of me for not 
making that change. There's no solution possible. At some point, it's time 
to just leave it be and move on to more interesting things.

"Chris Miller" <chris dprogramming.com> writes:

On Sat, 18 Feb 2006 14:59:42 -0500, Walter Bright  
<newshound digitalmars.com> wrote:

 "Jarrett Billingsley" <kb3ctd2 yahoo.com> wrote in message
 news:dt7q7f$2kfm$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 "Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message
 news:dt7mur$2hvs$2 digitaldaemon.com...
 "Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message
 news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as  
 aliases.
 It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the
 new names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

 import std.stdint;

 Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?   
 int8_t
 has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK.

 I agree it's ugly, but the names were taken from C's <stdint>. That  
 makes it
 convenient for porting from C, and for those who like the C stuff. Having
 yet a third set of names would be a bit too redundant.

Could deprecate them, and/or have them in std.c.stdint, and add ones  
without _t to std.stdint.

=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Anders_F_Bj=F6rklund?= <afb algonet.se> writes:

Jarrett Billingsley wrote:

 Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?  int8_t 
 has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK. 

It also appears on "size_t", the type of the array .length attribute...
(that is similar to "uint" for 32-bit code and "ulong" for 64-bit code)

So it's in D already :-)
--anders


PS.
I liked the "std.stdutf" idea too, but it seems noone else did.

  alias  char   utf8_t;
  alias wchar  utf16_t;
  alias dchar  utf32_t;

James Dunne <james.jdunne gmail.com> writes:

Jarrett Billingsley wrote:
 "Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt7mur$2hvs$2 digitaldaemon.com...
 
"Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...

Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the new 
names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

import std.stdint;

 
 
 Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?  int8_t 
 has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK. 
 
 

FYI, the -i plural suffix only applies to words that end in 'us', not 
'as' or other variants.

cactus       -> cacti
genius       -> genii
hippopotamus -> hippopotami

Apparently, 'bus' is the exception to the rule.  "Hey look at all those bi!"

An interesting read: 
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~damian/papers/extabs/Plurals.html

-- 
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS/MU/S d-pu s:+ a-->? C++++$ UL+++ P--- L+++ !E W-- N++ o? K? w--- O 
M--  V? PS PE Y+ PGP- t+ 5 X+ !R tv-->!tv b- DI++(+) D++ G e++>e 
h>--->++ r+++ y+++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

James Dunne

"John C" <johnch_atms hotmail.com> writes:

"James Dunne" <james.jdunne gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:dtdehf$2pu7$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Jarrett Billingsley wrote:
 "Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt7mur$2hvs$2 digitaldaemon.com...

"Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...

Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the 
new names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

import std.stdint;


 Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?  int8_t 
 has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK.

 FYI, the -i plural suffix only applies to words that end in 'us', not 'as' 
 or other variants.

 cactus       -> cacti
 genius       -> genii
 hippopotamus -> hippopotami

 Apparently, 'bus' is the exception to the rule.  "Hey look at all those 
 bi!"

Call me a pedant (it wouldn't be the first time), but 'bus' is just one of 
many exceptions.

corpus        corpora
viscus         viscera
platypus      platypuses
opus           opera
virus           viruses (although see "Use of the virii form" at 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses)

Bus, of course, is short for omnibus, which in Latin was a plural anyway.

 An interesting read: 
 http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~damian/papers/extabs/Plurals.html

 -- 
 -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
 Version: 3.1
 GCS/MU/S d-pu s:+ a-->? C++++$ UL+++ P--- L+++ !E W-- N++ o? K? w--- O 
 M--  V? PS PE Y+ PGP- t+ 5 X+ !R tv-->!tv b- DI++(+) D++ G e++>e h>--->++ 
 r+++ y+++
 ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

 James Dunne 

James Dunne <james.jdunne gmail.com> writes:

John C wrote:
 "James Dunne" <james.jdunne gmail.com> wrote in message 
 news:dtdehf$2pu7$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 
Jarrett Billingsley wrote:

"Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
news:dt7mur$2hvs$2 digitaldaemon.com...


"Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...


Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the 
new names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

import std.stdint;


Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?  int8_t 
has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK.

FYI, the -i plural suffix only applies to words that end in 'us', not 'as' 
or other variants.

cactus       -> cacti
genius       -> genii
hippopotamus -> hippopotami

Apparently, 'bus' is the exception to the rule.  "Hey look at all those 
bi!"

 
 
 Call me a pedant (it wouldn't be the first time), but 'bus' is just one of 
 many exceptions.
 
 corpus        corpora
 viscus         viscera
 platypus      platypuses
 opus           opera
 virus           viruses (although see "Use of the virii form" at 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses)
 
 Bus, of course, is short for omnibus, which in Latin was a plural anyway.
 
 
An interesting read: 
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~damian/papers/extabs/Plurals.html

-- 
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS/MU/S d-pu s:+ a-->? C++++$ UL+++ P--- L+++ !E W-- N++ o? K? w--- O 
M--  V? PS PE Y+ PGP- t+ 5 X+ !R tv-->!tv b- DI++(+) D++ G e++>e h>--->++ 
r+++ y+++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

James Dunne 

 
 
 

Learn something new everyday.  I did know 'bus' was short for something, 
but I didn't know that.

I'm not a fan of the -uses plural suffix.  I prefer the -i plural. 
Platypus = platypi.  It just sounds more natural to me.

-- 
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS/MU/S d-pu s:+ a-->? C++++$ UL+++ P--- L+++ !E W-- N++ o? K? w--- O 
M--  V? PS PE Y+ PGP- t+ 5 X+ !R tv-->!tv b- DI++(+) D++ G e++>e 
h>--->++ r+++ y+++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

James Dunne

Georg Wrede <georg.wrede nospam.org> writes:

James Dunne wrote:
 John C wrote:
 
 "James Dunne" <james.jdunne gmail.com> wrote in message 
 news:dtdehf$2pu7$1 digitaldaemon.com...

 Jarrett Billingsley wrote:

 "Walter Bright" <newshound digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt7mur$2hvs$2 digitaldaemon.com...


 "Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...


 Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as 
 aliases. It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, 
 to using the new names(like real or cent) for every new size that 
 has come up.


 import std.stdint;



 Could the _t suffix at least be taken off those aliases (alii?) ?  
 int8_t has got to be one of the ugliest things I've seen since CLK_TCK.


 FYI, the -i plural suffix only applies to words that end in 'us', not 
 'as' or other variants.

 cactus       -> cacti
 genius       -> genii
 hippopotamus -> hippopotami

 Apparently, 'bus' is the exception to the rule.  "Hey look at all 
 those bi!"



 Call me a pedant (it wouldn't be the first time), but 'bus' is just 
 one of many exceptions.

 corpus        corpora
 viscus         viscera
 platypus      platypuses
 opus           opera
 virus           viruses (although see "Use of the virii form" at 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses)

 Bus, of course, is short for omnibus, which in Latin was a plural anyway.


 An interesting read: 
 http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~damian/papers/extabs/Plurals.html

 -- 
 -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
 Version: 3.1
 GCS/MU/S d-pu s:+ a-->? C++++$ UL+++ P--- L+++ !E W-- N++ o? K? w--- 
 O M--  V? PS PE Y+ PGP- t+ 5 X+ !R tv-->!tv b- DI++(+) D++ G e++>e 
 h>--->++ r+++ y+++
 ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------


 
 Learn something new everyday.  I did know 'bus' was short for something, 
 but I didn't know that.
 
 I'm not a fan of the -uses plural suffix.  I prefer the -i plural. 
 Platypus = platypi.  It just sounds more natural to me.

So be it. Then you probably know the pluralis of 'sauna'.

"Jarrett Billingsley" <kb3ctd2 yahoo.com> writes:

"James Dunne" <james.jdunne gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:dtdehf$2pu7$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 FYI, the -i plural suffix only applies to words that end in 'us', not 
 'as' or other variants.


Ah!

 Apparently, 'bus' is the exception to the rule.  "Hey look at all those 
 bi!"


Lol, of course that phrase could come up in certain situations ;) 

Bruno Medeiros <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> writes:

Walter Bright wrote:
 "Bruno Medeiros" <daiphoenixNO SPAMlycos.com> wrote in message 
 news:dt705s$1vkh$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Still, it might be nice to have those types in the language, as aliases. 
 It could be a good name alternative, in some situations, to using the new 
 names(like real or cent) for every new size that has come up.

 
 import std.stdint;
 
 

Hum, interesting, didn't remember about that. Nice, but should also: not 
have the "_t" idiom; have similar aliases for floating point types 
(float32, float64, float80, etc.)



-- 
Bruno Medeiros - CS/E student
"Certain aspects of D are a pathway to many abilities some consider to 
be... unnatural."