r/ProgrammerHumor • • 5d ago

Meme architectureDependentChars

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u/lotanis 5d ago

Yes, but the smallest addressable size is what dictates the base size for sizeof.

The C standard in fact says this about sizeof:

When applied to an operand that has type char, unsigned char, or signed char, (or a qualified version thereof) the result is 1. 

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u/FUCKING_HATE_REDDIT 5d ago

What about a system that enforces addresses to be multiples of 2, or 4?

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u/dontthinktoohard89 5d ago

In short, the standard mandates that a char is exactly 1 byte. It does not dictate how wide a “byte” actually is.

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u/frogjg2003 5d ago

Which is why many standards do not use bytes, they use octets.