Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dartvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!dartvax!alexc From: alexc@dartvax.UUCP Newsgroups: net.lang.c Subject: portability; bit* Message-ID: <2667@dartvax.UUCP> Date: Thu, 3-Jan-85 16:08:15 EST Article-I.D.: dartvax.2667 Posted: Thu Jan 3 16:08:15 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 5-Jan-85 02:00:00 EST Distribution: net Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Lines: 14 It isn't much of a portability argument that C runs on both PDP- 11 and 370s. Both are byte addressed, though I believe the 370 has more alignment constraints. Contrast C implementation on a Honeywell mainframe (as, I be- lieve, Waterloo has done). The machine is word addressed, not byte addressed. However there are string instructions and pointers which can index by a character count. For that matter, there are bit string instructions which can index by a bit count. C and C programmers assume that the machine is easily character addressed, but the language takes no notice of bit addressing. I therefore propose that the bit type be added to C, with atten- dant bit*, bit[] bit(), etc.