How Do C and C Standards Address Exotic Architectures Like the Unisys ClearPath Dorado?

Exotic Architectures Considered by Standard Committees

Despite the significant evolution in computer hardware, certain architectures with unique characteristics have persisted, prompting the C and C standards committees to account for their existence. These architectures deviate from the prevailing norms in several fundamental aspects.

One example is the Unisys ClearPath Dorado Servers, which offer backward compatibility for older Univac software. Key features of this architecture include:

• 36-bit words
• CHAR_BIT of 9
• One's complement representation of signed values
• 72-bit non-IEEE floating-point arithmetic
• Separate address spaces for code and data
• Word-addressed memory
• Lack of a dedicated stack pointer

These features significantly alter the implementation of basic data types and operations in C or C compilers targeting this architecture. For instance, the implementation of floating-point operations requires specialized handling since it deviates from the IEEE 754 standard.

Although the availability of C compilers for these exotic architectures is uncertain, the standards committees recognize their existence and provide flexibility to accommodate their distinct characteristics without compromising the portability of code.

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