dbaker@nwuxd.UUCP (Darryl Baker) (03/01/84)
[ just in case ] The problem with NULL pointers is just the tip of the unportable iceberg. I was part of a porting effort at my last job. The machine we were trying to make run was the a candidate for the most brain damaged to ever run a UNIX(TM) System. The size were very strange since it was a word addressing machine. (Yes Martha you could only address word easily.) So you had: type size(in bytes) _____________________ char 1 short 2 int 2 long 4 *int 3 *struct 3 *short 3 *char 5 The reason for character pointers being so long is they had to be a word address + a byte offset. Also, there was no was to go from a base+offset pair to a long with out going to memory. You want to guess how much code breaks on this machine? So quit complaining about NULL pointers and be thankful of how much code moves without problems. Darryl Baker ihnp4!nwuxd!dbaker __________________________ UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories