From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 26412 invoked by alias); 10 Apr 2015 16:39:12 -0000 Mailing-List: contact gdb-patches-help@sourceware.org; run by ezmlm Precedence: bulk List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: , Sender: gdb-patches-owner@sourceware.org Received: (qmail 26397 invoked by uid 89); 10 Apr 2015 16:39:11 -0000 Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; auth=none X-Virus-Found: No X-Spam-SWARE-Status: No, score=-2.0 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,SPF_PASS,T_RP_MATCHES_RCVD autolearn=ham version=3.3.2 X-HELO: ausxipps301.us.dell.com Received: from ausxipps301.us.dell.com (HELO ausxipps301.us.dell.com) (143.166.148.223) by sourceware.org (qpsmtpd/0.93/v0.84-503-g423c35a) with (CAMELLIA256-SHA encrypted) ESMTPS; Fri, 10 Apr 2015 16:39:10 +0000 X-LoopCount0: from 10.170.28.39 From: To: CC: , Subject: Re: [PATCH 0/7] Support reading/writing memory on architectures with non 8-bits bytes Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2015 16:39:00 -0000 Message-ID: <1476603C-A0AA-42D4-B432-CDCF06901AF4@dell.com> References: <1428522979-28709-1-git-send-email-simon.marchi@ericsson.com> <83d23dg1bd.fsf@gnu.org> <55269D1A.3080902@ericsson.com> <83vbh5e04f.fsf@gnu.org> <5526E87D.3020109@ericsson.com> <838ue0v1vy.fsf@gnu.org> <5527F3BC.3030005@ericsson.com> In-Reply-To: <5527F3BC.3030005@ericsson.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-ID: <93F02AD69E633E45B755C7DD39623593@dell.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable MIME-Version: 1.0 X-IsSubscribed: yes X-SW-Source: 2015-04/txt/msg00389.txt.bz2 > ... >>> I would assume that somebody developing for a system with 16-bits byte = would be very >>> well aware of that fact. It is quite fundamental. They won't be shocked= if the >>> debugger shows 16-bits when they asked to read 1 byte. Quite the opposi= te actually, >>> it will feel like a natural extension of the compiler. >>=20 >> What I have before my eyes is a user who debugs several different >> platforms, and therefore doesn't immerse themselves in this world of >> different meanings for too long times. >=20 > I understand your concern. The term "byte" is probably set in stone as 8= -bits for pretty > much everybody, so trying to redefine it as variable length would probabl= y cause more harm > than good. But if you work on several platforms, you would reasonably be expected to u= nderstand each of them. Debugging on A, B, and C with a working knowledge = only of A isn=92t very realistic. 8 bits =3D=3D byte is certainly the predominant modern usage, but it hasn= =92t always been that way and even today it apparently isn=92t quite univer= sal. GCC used to support architectures that did not do 8-bit byte memory a= ddressing, though that capability seems to have faded away in the past coup= le of years. paul