> The byte order of the computer doesn't matter much at all except to compiler writers and the like This statement is to generic to mean anything helpful. I t

> The byte order of the computer doesn't matter much at all except to compiler writers and the like This statement is to generic to mean anything helpful. I think the point our friend Rob Pike is making is that you could write general purpose code which accomplishes the task, and on a sufficiently advanced compiler, the swap may be eliminated where applicable; but when the point is made this way, it surely just pisses off people who know better. C programmers are not (quite) children, you don't need to eradicate nuance to keep people reading.