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Narishma · 2014-12-28 18:19:28

Is there a reason it wouldn't be 16 bits like in C?

nokcha | karma 1350 | avg karma 5.25 · | 2020-04-13 11:41:50

It's 16 bytes, not 16 bits.

topspin | karma 5853 | avg karma 3.27 · | 2021-04-11 05:10:58

It's actually 8/16 bit in 200 lines of C.

flingo | karma 146 | avg karma 1.36 · | 2018-07-22 15:26:11+00:00

When can a char be 16 bits? I presume it'd still have a sizeof() of 1 though.

michaelwww | karma 2419 | avg karma 2.57 · | 2022-09-14 14:57:33

16 bit is not enough?

devit | karma 4074 | avg karma 2.94 · | 2023-11-08 09:27:43

16-bit bytes?

dragonwriter | karma 118260 | avg karma 2.17 · | 2023-04-03 21:02:21

Because 4 bits less precisely specifies the value of the parameter than 16 bits does.

jstimpfle | karma 3971 | avg karma 1.31 · | 2018-11-29 20:21:24+00:00

no, int is 16 bits minimum

pantalaimon | karma 13220 | avg karma 6.05 · | 2021-10-11 03:47:48

that's how much you can address with 16 bit

yurish | karma 305 | avg karma 5.87 · | 2023-03-07 11:57:35

I have seen a DSP processor that could address only 16-bit words. And C compiler did not fix it, bytes had 16 bits there.

mid-kid | karma 1140 | avg karma 3.35 · | 2023-04-04 05:47:29

It's also 16 bit for the AVR architecture used on Arduino devices.

jandrese | karma 30121 | avg karma 3.36 · | 2019-10-03 23:13:13

IIRC the real rationale is back in the early days people bet that 16 bits would be enough for a fixed length encoding, but the bet didn't pay off and now they're stuck with the worst of both worlds.

fb03 | karma 1543 | avg karma 2.96 · | 2023-09-01 08:03:35

Yeah, thanks. I went to investigate and was baffled to find that it was speedier but still, 16 bits. Insane stuff!

chippy | karma 10184 | avg karma 4.63 · | 2014-05-26 20:01:24+00:00

16-bit

masklinn | karma 65147 | avg karma 3.36 · | 2022-09-23 08:43:42

Except that’s not been true in a while, and technically this assumptions was not kosher for even longer: C itself only guarantees that int is 16 bits.

boulos | karma 12737 | avg karma 5.86 · | 2018-02-12 21:32:38+00:00

That doesn’t prove that the chip operates at 16 bits. For example, we could do 18-bit multipliers (or anything >= 16) and still use 16-bit floats.

pkaye | karma 8777 | avg karma 2.12 · | 2015-04-23 16:15:59

You use 16-bit variables.

AndyKelley | karma 9290 | avg karma 6.93 · | 2016-01-08 12:42:17

If 16 bits is enough, then you should be using int16_t. If 16 bits is not enough, then you should not be using int.

scott_s | karma 34069 | avg karma 3.96 · | 2009-02-08 17:07:54

I agree. But, even if there was, say, a uint16 type in C, it wouldn't be the grammar that defines it as 16 bits.

ummonk | karma 11811 | avg karma 2.67 · | 2019-07-05 21:48:53

I’ve worked with Arduinos where int was 16 bit.