Pointer

Gets the pointer size in bits Determines the size of pointers on the target architecture, which indicates the address space size and affects memory management decisions.

Pointer Sizes by Architecture

• 32-bit Architectures: 32-bit pointers, 4GB address space
  • x86, ARMv6/v7, 32-bit MIPS/PowerPC/RISC-V/SPARC
• 64-bit Architectures: 64-bit pointers, large address space
  • x86_64, ARM64, 64-bit MIPS/PowerPC/RISC-V/SPARC

Applications

• Memory Management: Size calculations, pointer arithmetic
• Serialization: Platform-aware data format selection
• Performance: Cache efficiency, data structure layout

Returns

Pointer size in bits (32 or 64)

Note

This function is constexpr and evaluates at compile time

See also

is32BitArchitecture() for boolean 32-bit check

is64BitArchitecture() for boolean 64-bit check

ArchitectureInfo::is32Bit() and ArchitectureInfo::is64Bit()

size-aware code

constexpr int ptr_size = trlc::platform::getPointerSize();
 
if constexpr (ptr_size == 64) {
    // 64-bit optimizations
    using hash_type = std::uint64_t;
} else {
    // 32-bit compatibility
    using hash_type = std::uint32_t;
}

Since

1.0.0