C++: Is it safe to cast pointer to int and later back to pointer again?

Question

Is it safe to cast pointer to int and later back to pointer again?

How about if we know if the pointer is 32 bit long and int is 32 bit long?

long* j         


        

Answer 1

If your going to be doing any system portable casting, you need to use something like Microsofts INT_PTR/UINT_PTR, the safety after that relies on the target platforms and what you intend doing to the INT_PTR. generally for most arithmatic char* or uint_8* works better while being typesafe(ish)