>>> Point taken, are you sure that all platforms can do 64 bit
>>> calculations? (or does the compiler support it?)
>> My understanding is that all platforms CAN do 64 bit calculation,
>> but it's generally frowned upon on 32-bit platforms as it's rather
>> slow.
> First of all, one can not avoid wide numbers for this. You can
> not use an #ifdef to avoid the problem.
> The question then becomes: Use "long long" or not?
> All platforms can do 64-bit calculations via "long long", with
> the compiler emulating as needed. Older versions of gcc could be
> slow, but this problem has been fixed.
It's not a gcc problem, but a general dislike of non-native integer
formats by the kernel developers. Personally, I've nothing against it
at all, but I've seen several patches rejected simply because they
used long long on 32-bit platforms.
> Even though I have an old gcc, I'd prefer letting the compiler
> handle the job. Using "long long" would make the code more
> maintainable. Somebody actually using this new feature will need
> a new libc anyway, and I think libc now requires the newer
> compiler.
Remember that libc can't be used in the kernel itself...
Best wishes from Riley.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| There is something frustrating about the quality and speed of Linux |
| development, ie., the quality is too high and the speed is too high, |
| in other words, I can implement this XXXX feature, but I bet someone |
| else has already done so and is just about to release their patch. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* ftp://ftp.MemAlpha.cx/pub/rhw/Linux
* http://www.MemAlpha.cx/kernel.versions.html
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