Questions tagged [32-bit]
13 questions
61
votes
4 answers
Is there a good reason to run 32-bit software instead of 64-bit on 64-bit machines?
Is there any good reason to supply a 32-bit version along with a 64-bit version of any software targeted at modern desktop machines, running modern 64-bit operating systems on 64-bit hardware?
It seems that 64-bit software would be more efficient,…

Filip Haglund
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Why might it be difficult to make a 64 bit version of a program?
In my short time programming, it has been trivial to compile any of my C++, Java, etc. for either a 32 or 64 bit machine so long as I have the full source for the program.
But a lot of software is not released 64bit.
Most annoyingly, there isn't yet…

calben
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15
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3 answers
Is there something special about the number 65535?
2¹⁶-1 & 2⁵ = 2⁵ (or? obviously ?)
A developer asked me today what is bitwise 65535 & 32 i.e. 2¹⁶-1 & 2⁵ = ?
I thought at first spontaneously 32 but it seemed to easy whereupon I thought for several minutes and then answered 32. 32 seems to have been…

Niklas Rosencrantz
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4 answers
Should I deploy 32-bit only or both 32- and 64-bit versions for Windows?
I have a cross-platform application written in a compiled language.
For Linux it is customary to have both amd64 and i386 builds available to user, so user can choose version, suitable for its current environment.
In Mac it is customary to make…

Alexander Shishenko
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7
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3 answers
Examples of limitations in IT due to different bit length by design
I am teaching the course "Introduction in Programming" for the first-year students and would like to find interesting examples where the datatype size in bits, chosen by design, led to certain known restrictions or important values.
Here are some…

Alexander Galkin
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5
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1 answer
Why do some software packages have an "amd64" suffix for 64-bit systems?
When downloading various software packages, and executables for Windows, I always see two different types of executables to download. One just says ...32-bit and the other always says ...amd64. I know this has nothing to do with AMD, but it is…

Carpetfizz
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Accessing a 32-bit DLL from a 64-bit process
I'm aware that it's not possible to load a 32-bit DLL into a 64-bit process.
The DLL in question is a ODBC driver which is no longer supported (although it works fine) and no 64-bit version of it exists. I don't have access to the source code…

user131837
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8 answers
Using error numbers which only work on 64 bit servers: a bad idea?
In an attempt to solve one problem I encountered another. I would like to have an easy and memorable way of creating unique error numbers, across projects and across developers. The scheme I came up with was to use the initials of the developer,…

DudeOnRock
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2 answers
Importance of uniformity of development architecture across the team
If some developers still use a 32 bit 'Windows XP' and others use a '64 bit Windows 7', would it be advisable for the entire team to work with 32 bit development tools even if their OS is 64 bit? Are there any problems that could happen if…

Nav
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2 answers
Implementing base-10 floating point division
I'm implementing floating-point arithmetic, for a micro-controller which does not support floating point numbers, in either hardware or software.
(Software being "written" in a sort of electrical diagram program.)
I've finished encoding/decoding…

E.T.
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0
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2 answers
In C++, Why do bitwise operators convert 8 or 16 bit integers to 32 bit?
Is there a logical reason why the integer is upgraded to 32+ bits?
I was trying to make an 8bit mask, and found myself a bit disappointed that the upgrade will corrupt my equations.
sizeof( quint8(0)); // 1 byte
sizeof(~quint8(0)); // 4…

Anon
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1 answer
If the set of MIPS instructions were changed to accommodate 128 records theory question
If the set of MIPS instructions were changed to accommodate 128 records and 4 times more instructions type-I, which would be the largest hexadecimal immediate value that could be supported, keeping the 32-bit instructions?

Blind Roach
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-4
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3 answers
Save flags in an int32
Unity3d PlayerPrefs only allow saving certain types - string, float, and int32. Since int is composed of 32 bits, it should be able to store 32 flags or a bool[] of length 32.
So far, I've thought about setting the int based on a binary number of 32…

JPtheK9
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