Amidst some much more interesting discussions, I have what is probably
a stupid question.  If so, would someone kindly hit me over the head
with a 2x4 and point me at what I'm missing?

The C standard specifies minimum ranges for the various basic
arithmetic types, -32767 to +32767 for signed shorts, and so forth.  I
can certainly find in the draft standard where to get the
implementation's limits, but I can't see a requirement for mimimum
values.  Is there one?  Where is it defined, or could a conforming
implementation really have 16 bit shorts, ints, and longs?

Now, back to the interesting stuff...

Al Folsom
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folsom@ix.netcom.com (Alan Folsom) writes:

>The C standard specifies minimum ranges for the various basic
>arithmetic types, -32767 to +32767 for signed shorts, and so forth.  I
>can certainly find in the draft standard where to get the
>implementation's limits, but I can't see a requirement for mimimum
>values.  Is there one?

Yes, the minimum values for C++ are the same as for C.

>Where is it defined

In the C standard, which is included "by reference" in the C++ draft.
See 17.2.1.4 [lib.structure.see.also].

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