developerWorks: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About C Types, Part 1

“The C type system has been adapted to a great number of
architectures. As C was adapted to new systems, decisions had to be
made. Should the int type be the same size on every new system, or
should it be the most convenient size on every system, even if this
meant it wasn’t always the same size?

“If you learn nothing else from these articles, learn this: On
any C language implementation compliant with any C standard ever
written, sizeof(char) is exactly one, whether char is eight bits,
16, 60, or 64. If you use the GNU autoconf test for sizeof(char),
you might as well tattoo ‘I don’t know what sizeof means’ on your
forehead…”

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