[swift-evolution] Why hard-code octet-sized bytes?

[Daryle Walker]

When I first looked into Swift, I noticed that the base type was called “UInt8” (and “Int8”) and not something like “Byte.”  I know modern computers have followed the bog standard 8/16/32(/64) architecture for decades, but why hard code it into the language/library?  Why should 36-bit processors with 9-bit bytes, or processors that start at 16 bits, be excluded right off the bat?  Did you guys see a problem with how (Objective-)C(++) had to define its base types in a mushy way to accommodate the possibility non-octet bytes?

BTW, is there an equivalent of CHAR_BIT, the number of bits per byte, in the library?  Or are we supposed to hard code an “8”?

— 
Daryle Walker
Mac, Internet, and Video Game Junkie
darylew AT mac DOT com 

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