🚀 go-pugleaf

Todd Knarr wrote:
> 
> In <hawkfish-0801960904580001@blv-pm3-ip24.halcyon.com>, hawkfish@punchdeck.com (Richard Wesley) writes:
> 
> >I've found it useful to use typedefs for all sorts of things like this.
> >Looping through a FooArray with a FooIndex is much more robust than using
> >a long or something.
> 
> I try to avoid syntactic-saccharine typedefs when possible. There's no
> language-level gain from typedef'ing an int or long to something else
> just for that, and it virtually requires an explosion of variables to
> deal with multiple arrays of different types. 
> [snip]

One very good reason to do such a thing is to specify a domain. You may 
decide, on initial analysis, that the domain of some thing is within
the limits of a 16-bit integer. Thus, you may (on some platforms) typedef
a short integer for it, and use the new type instead of short int in all
places where a variable is to be restricted to that particular domain.
If, at some later stage of the development process, you determine that
32 bits would be more appropriate, you only need to change the typedef
(and perhaps some memory access stuff, especially if using 80x86 ;-)

I agree that where the domain is known to always fit within all native
word sizes on all target platforms, an int is appropriate. In all other
cases, however, I would suggest that typedef'ing would be more 
appropriate .

> --
> Todd Knarr : tknarr@xmission.com      |  finger for PGP public key
>                                       |  Member, USENET Cabal
> 
> Seriously, I don't want to die just yet.  I don't care how
> good-looking they are, I! don't! want! to! die!"
>                                         -- Megazone ( UF1 )

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