Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!lll-tis!oodis01!uplherc!sp7040!obie!wes
From: wes@obie.UUCP (Barnacle Wes)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Optimal structure field ordering
Summary: Let the compiler choose the structure ordering?
	 Not my compiler, PLEASE!
Message-ID: <254@obie.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jun 88 01:00:31 GMT
References: <163@navtech.uucp> <806@garth.UUCP>
Organization: Great Salt Lake Yacht Club, north branch
Lines: 17

In article <806@garth.UUCP>, smryan@garth.UUCP (Steven Ryan) writes:
> (Not being a C expert, I don't know if this true.)  A nice language
> definition will say you can define fields but doesn't say what order
> they are allocated. It would be better if the compiler can sort the
> fields to optimise access and balance space/time. In this way you
> can write the structures as it makes sense and not worry about
> dinking it for a particular machine.

A little further though might show this idea to have some far-reaching
bad karma.  It would be very difficult to write a file system portable
across machines of varying architecture (i.e. Idris) if the compiler
on each machine can arbitrarily re-arrange structures to suit its own
whim.  This might start another `volatile' war :-) but it ain't good
for those who use C for what it was intended - systems programming :-).
-- 
  {uwmcsd1, hpda}!sp7040!obie!wes  | "If I could just be sick, I'd be fine."
	+1 801 825 3468	           |          -- Joe Housely --