64 bit ints

[Doug Gwyn]

In article <225800084 at uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald at uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
-Then allow the user to specify, either by an "install" program,
-by command line switches, by a "config" file, or by (gasp) pragmas,
-whatever combination of shorts, ints and longs he wants, so
-long as they fit the usual rules of C. Some people will use 
-short = int = long int = 64 while others will put short = int = 16
-and long int = 64 (to match pointers) or whatever.

This is unworkable.  The application code has to interface with the
C library and other libraries.  It is unrealistic to expect there to
be umpteen variants of each library to support all the permutations
of data sizes.

It is also a BAD idea to make int handling slower than necessary
by an inappropriate choice.  int has always been intended to be the
integer type "most convenient for the machine".