[M3devel] long vs. INTEGER? ranges vs. word/integer?

[Jay]

I'd like to avoid using "long" and "ulong" anywhere.
On Unix, they are always pointer sized.
On Windows, they are always 32 bits.
 
This divergence of meaning I think it renders it useless.
 
I believe for pointer-sized integers, the right types are any of:
  unsigned: size_t, Word.T
  signed: INTEGER, ssize_t, ptrdiff_t
For 32bit integers: int32_t and uint32_t, perhaps int.
 
There is arguably some ambiguity if you consider 16bit platforms.
 
Now, I noticed we have:
INTERFACE Cstddef;
 
  size_t = Ctypes.unsigned_long;  ssize_t = Ctypes.long;  ptrdiff_t = Ctypes.long;
 
I would like to change this, either to:
 
32bits:
  size_t = Ctypes.unsigned_int;  ssize_t = Ctypes.int;  ptrdiff_t = Ctypes.int;
 
64bits:
  size_t = Ctypes.unsigned_long_long;  ssize_t = Ctypes.long_long;  ptrdiff_t = Ctypes.long_long;
 
or portable:
  size_t = Word.T;  ssize_t = INTEGER;  ptrdiff_t = INTEGER;
but, my question then is, why isn't the portable version already in use?
Especially for the signed types.
 
I mean, you know, we have:
 
32bits/BasicCtypes:
 
INTERFACE BasicCtypes;
IMPORT Word, Long;
TYPE  (* the four signed integer types *)  signed_char        = [-16_7f-1 .. 16_7f];  short_int          = [-16_7fff-1 .. 16_7fff];  int                = [-16_7fffffff-1 .. 16_7fffffff];  long_int           = [-16_7fffffff-1 .. 16_7fffffff];
question is, why aren't int and long_int INTEGER?
 
64bits/BasicCtypes:
 
  long_int           = [-16_7fffffffffffffff -1  .. 16_7fffffffffffffff ];  long_long          = [-16_7fffffffffffffffL-1L .. 16_7fffffffffffffffL];
 
why not INTEGER?
 
 - Jay
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://m3lists.elegosoft.com/pipermail/m3devel/attachments/20090102/f12b09dc/attachment-0001.html>