64 bit architectures and C/C++

[Ray Dunn]

In referenced article, bhoughto at pima.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>In referenced article, ray at philmtl.philips.ca (Ray Dunn) writes:
>>Prior to "portable" 'C', porting problems were *expected*,
>>visible, and handled accordingly.
>
>Now they're bugs in the compiler, not just "issues of
>implementation."

No - now they're "issues of *system dependancies*".

>>Will developers still assume these bugs to be likely, and handle
>>verification accordingly, or will they be lulled by "it compiled first
>>time" into thinking that the portability issue has been taken into account
>>up front, and treat it with less attention than it deserves?
>
>Your question is all but naive.

Only if you ignore the fact, which you seem to do, that many of the issues
of portability in the real world are created by differences in system
hardware, operating systems and file management facilities.  This is true
for nearly all software for example which has a tightly coupled user
interface, or which is forced to process system specific non-ascii-stream
data files, or to interface with multi-tasking facilities.  Even
differencies in Floating Point handling can create major pains-in-the-neck.

There's more to portability than 'C' conformity.
-- 
Ray Dunn.                    | UUCP: ray at philmtl.philips.ca
Philips Electronics Ltd.     |       ..!{uunet|philapd|philabs}!philmtl!ray
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-- 
Ray Dunn.                    | UUCP: ray at philmtl.philips.ca
Philips Electronics Ltd.     |       ..!{uunet|philapd|philabs}!philmtl!ray
600 Dr Frederik Philips Blvd | TEL : (514) 744-8987  (Phonemail)
St Laurent. Quebec.  H4M 2S9 | FAX : (514) 744-9550  TLX: 05-824090