kruger@whyvax.dec.com (I've got 50nS memory. What did you say?) (02/20/88)
The best example is for bitfields. Structures of bitfields are often used as a non-portable way of accessing physical bits of a specific register. As C is often used as a high-level assembler, this is a non-trivial purpose, and one you cannot afford to break by allowing rearrangement. Programmers must be able to count on the ordered arrangement of structure members. dov