3 ms·
Common Lisp also has fewer-than-32-bit integers. It uses a few bits so that the VM can tell whether something is a pointer or an unboxed integer.
by neutronicus 15y ago
Common Lisp also has fewer-than-32-bit integers. It uses a few bits so that the VM can tell whether something is a pointer or an unboxed integer.
- aidenn0 15y agoNo, it has fewer-than-32-bit fixnums. Integers are practically unbounded. Also, on cmucl and it's derivatives you can declare something to be (unsigned-byte 32) and when possible it will use untagged integers for performance. This makes a difference because if you declare something "fixnum" you know you're being non-portable, but if you declare something (unsigned-byte 32) or just integer then you expect it to work across all implementations.
- neutronicus 15y agoI didn't see a need to introduce another piece of jargon, but thanks for the clarification.