Portable code - bits per char

Question

I know that the C/C++ standards only guarantee a minimum of 8 bits per char, and that theoretically 9/16/42/anything else is possible, and that therefore all sites

Answer 1

At least, similar to the integer size in 64bit architectures, future platforms may use a wider char, with more bits. ASCII characters might become obsolete, replaced by unicode. This might be a reason so be cautious.