You can always use "unsigned char[N]" for that, you know, which is more realiable. You can even union it with an integer type for more convenient access, althou

You can always use "unsigned char[N]" for that, you know, which is more realiable. You can even union it with an integer type for more convenient access, although please use static_assert to verify that the overlap is exact. All in all, "it's very easy and straightforward to control the size and padding of a struct's fields in portable manner" is yet another C's imaginary advantage: it's not that straightforward or simple. The padding especially has always been a thorny issue.