Subj : Re: Pairs of 32-bit pointers
To   : Sterling Bates <sblistserv@bigbangco.com>
From : Brendan Eich <brendan@meer.net>
Date : Sat Dec 13 2003 11:30 am

Sterling Bates wrote:
> "Brendan Eich" <brendan@meer.net> wrote in message
> news:3FD2AA5E.2030509@meer.net...
> 
>>I have no idea what you mean here.  Could you give an example?  Some
>>context?  A use-case?  Thanks.
> 
> 
> Another way of looking at my suggestion is this:
> 
> jsval variable[1];

You want 2 there, not 1.

> 
> variable[0] holds the var type.  variable[1] holds the actual value
> (integer, ptr to chars for string, ptr to 64-bit double, etc).
> 
> &variable[1] is what gets passed around.  When code needs to know the type
> it accesses variable[0] and checks against JSTYPE_, or JSVAL_.

What's the purpose, though?  You haven't given a use-case for this idea.

It wastes two words where one will do, compared to tagged jsvals as we 
have today, so it's not something that we can accept.  Space utilization 
matters.  This would double the size of obj->slots vectors, double the 
size of stack frames, and double the size of atom keys, e.g.

/be

.