3 ms·

But should it be everywhere including the fs/virtual fs layer? Could we limit it only to device drivers? Not a kernel expert here and would love to hear thought

• dahfizz 5y ago
  This doesn't have anything to do with filesystems or kernels. The x86 assembly uses fixed width immediates. CPU registers are a fixed width. For any code to compile and run, it needs to make decisions about how large stack frames need to be, and how much heap memory to allocate. This was the parent's point about abstractions. You can make a library that pretends to be a variable sized integer, but to implement such a library you need to make a decision about how much space to allocate and the width of variables in order to compile. There is no getting away from how the hardware works.
  • airocker 5y ago
    Yes totally, but FS is a Kernel abstraction, it deals with questions like: How to keep a directory? How to keep a file? How to keep synlinks. Etc, These can be implemented in any higher level language or within C without using fixed width numerals if correct abstractions were available. Only device control parts should use fixed with numerals in my opinion.
    • infamouscow 5y ago
      The problem is syscall interfaces are facilitated through hardware circuits, and as such, you have to work with fixed-width integers. Not only that, but those integers usually have other requirements around alignment and endianness.