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???
08/26/08 23:40
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#157781 - union misuse
Responding to: ???'s previous message
Per Westermark said:
Using an union doesn't buy you any extra security when converting from four raw bytes to a float.

I won't comment on the casted pointer dereference method because I don't remember reading the language explicitly addressing the issue. However, using a union in the manner of the other post is a quite common misuse of the language, the standard for which states:

The value of at most one of the members can be stored in a union object at any time.

So, the union method does have the disadvantage of the language standard disallowing it (although many of us use it).


List of 10 messages in thread
TopicAuthorDate
silly C question            01/01/70 00:00      
   *(float*)&time            01/01/70 00:00      
      Thanks!!!            01/01/70 00:00      
         Here's one without wild casting:            01/01/70 00:00      
            Nothing wild            01/01/70 00:00      
               union misuse            01/01/70 00:00      
                  Not hiding cast            01/01/70 00:00      
                  Programmer knowledge required.            01/01/70 00:00      
                     Hiding of portability issue            01/01/70 00:00      
                     Portability C            01/01/70 00:00      

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