Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

[Richard Miller <9fans@hamnavoe.com>]

> so what do you want to do about usize.  i can't easily just make it 64-bits on
> nix, because that would require that we get some changes in sources.  malloc
> would need to be fixed, etc.

Just tell the plain truth - have I got this right?

Usize is an unsigned integer which can hold the maximum size of an
object declared statically (the sizeof operator returns a value of
type usize) or created by the usual allocation functions (the size
argument of malloc is - or should be?  - type usize).  Usize may be
smaller than uintptr, for example on amd64 where uintptr is 64 bits
and usize is 32.  On such machines it may still be possible to
make larger allocations (eg by writing a megamalloc function
with a size argument in megabyte units) but not to use a usize
variable to represent the length of the returned objects.

>> OTOH, it's not worth making special provision for physical memory addresses.
>>...
> you need it for PAE.  i also find it to be great documentation.  imo, it helps
> in writing correct code, and understanding it later.

Yes, I've come around to agree with this.