Re: L4_Word_t vs. void*

[Joshua Haberman]
> I notice that the L4 headers use L4_Word_t (and never void*) to
> refer to addresses.  Is there a reason why L4_Word_t is a better
> choice?  Should I avoid using void* in my own L4 programs?

> I imagine there are 32/64 bit issues here (and perhaps even
> 32-on-64) that I don't fully understand.  Can someone enlighten me?

Difficult to give one single good reason for this.  Much of it has
historic reasons.  It's also not so much a 32/64 bit issue as it is a
question about how we use the addresses.  For the most part, the
addresses are not really pointers to objects (as in C++ objects).
Describing them as void * can as such be misleading.  It is also
easier to use Word for calculating offsets, etc.

Just because we don't use void * much in the API specification does
not mean that you should necessarily try to avoid it in your own
programs.

	eSk