C++ vs Objective-C – Difference Between UInt8 and uint8_t

int64_t is a Standard C++ type for a signed integer of exactly 64 bits. int64 is not a standard type.

The first C++ standard didn't have fixed-width types. Before int64_t was added to Standard C++, the different compilers all implemented a 64-bit type but they used their own names for it (e.g. long long, __int64, etc.)

A likely series of events is that this project originally would typedef int64 to the 64-bit type for each compiler it was supported on. But once compilers all started to support Standard C++ better, or once the person who wrote the code found out about int64_t, the code was switched over to use the standard name.

uint_least8_t is the smallest type that has at least 8 bits. uint_fast8_t is the fastest type that has at least 8 bits.

You can see the differences by imagining exotic architectures. Imagine a 20-bit architecture. Its unsigned int has 20 bits (one register), and its unsigned char has 10 bits. So sizeof(int) == 2, but using char types requires extra instructions to cut the registers in half. Then:

• uint8_t: is undefined (no 8 bit type).
• uint_least8_t: is unsigned char, the smallest type that is at least 8 bits.
• uint_fast8_t: is unsigned int, because in my imaginary architecture, a half-register variable is slower than a full-register one.