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#BPTR

#: 33318 S7/ProgrammingForum unknown
    16-Sep-86 05:39:53
Sb: #BPTR
Fm: Darrel Schneider 73267,732
To: all

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Does anybody know what the reasoning is for BPTR's? I know that they exist because the DOS was written in the language BCPL but I don't see why you would want pointers to be constantly in need of shifting in order to see what they actually point at. I guess it would make sense if the memory was longword addressable but I have the feeling this is not the reason. I guess it could also be because of a desire to keep what they point at on a longword boundary but is there in reason for this on the Amiga? Can anybody out there explain the evolution of AmigaDos? Darrel