The Challenge of Fixed-Size Integers Before C99 In embedded programming, before adopting the C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999), a significant challenge was ensuring the consistent sizing of key data objects. This complexity stemmed from the C standard’s (ISO/IEC 9899) non-committal stance on the size of an int. We knew: A short is a minimum of 16-bits. A long is a minimum of 32-bits. An int is somewhere between a short and a long. This flexibility boosted C’s portability, making it a favou...
