[m-dev.] Re: changes to string module

[Julien Fischer]

On Fri, 30 Jan 2009, Ralph Becket wrote:

> Zoltan Somogyi, Friday, 30 January 2009:
>> On 30-Jan-2009, Ralph Becket <rafe at csse.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
>>> Hmm.  That constants in question are 0xfe3dbe7f and 0xffffffff.  To get
>>> around the overflow check these should be -0x1c24181 and -0x1, but
>>> that feels rather unnatural.  Maybe the overflow check should only apply
>>> to base 10 numbers?
>>
>> Yes, it should. In C's printf, using %x treats the argument as unsigned.
>
> The 0xffffffff constant makes me concerned about 64 bit cleanliness if
> the intention is to say "all bits in the word are 1".

The comment above that section of code explains this; the use of the 
constant is to ensure that the behaviour is the same on 32- and 64-bit 
systems.

Julien.
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