🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <INFO-M2%87110717121037@UCF1VM> Info-Modula2 Distribution List <INFO-M2%UCF1VM.bitnet@jade.berkeley.edu> writes:
>How big is a word?  It seems to be common practice to implement INTEGERS
>and CARDINALS as 16 bit words, and use LONGINT and LONGCARD for 32 bits.
>
>My own opinion would be to implement 32 bit integers and such, I just wanted
>to hear some other opinions.

I think that 16 bits should be a *minimum* size for a word, and that 32
bits should be a *minimum* size for a longword.  Also SIZE(word) =
SIZE(CARDINAL) = SIZE(INTEGER) and SIZE(LONGWORD) = SIZE(LONGCARD) = 
SIZE(LONGINT).  If the instruction set of the machine supports longwords
greater than 32 bits, then a LONGWORD should be that size.  A WORD
should be an intermediate size between the shortest (byte?) and the
longest operand size.  LONGWORDs should be bigger than WORDs.  The BSI
M2 committee intends to have 3 standard sizes for all number types:
"short" "normal" and "long". A "SHORTWORD" is probably a byte.

--alan@pdn