Re: [Algorithms] How to get 3dvector largest coordinate index?

[Will V. <wi...@se...>]

On Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:33:32 +1300, Jeff Russell <je...@8m...>  
wrote:
> isn't storing bytes and interpreting them as different types what unions  
> are for?

I think the original intent of unions is to store discrete instances of  
variant types, rather than as a mechanism for reinterpreting. So you read  
and write the same type through the union, rather than reading one and  
writing the other. Typically you wrap this up in a struct with a label  
field (to tell you what's in the union, so you don't read and write the  
wrong thing) plus the union payload itself.

Cheers,

Will