On Fri, 22 Dec 1995, Mike Long wrote:

> Code should use quad_t (int64_t?) if it needs a 64-bit integer.

It's my understanding that one should only code intNN_t types when one 
needs _exactly_ NN bits, and a more generic type (e.g. quad_t) when 
needing one that is _at least_ some number of bits.  The only times that 
I see a need for the intNN_t types are in pieces of code that deal 
with standards (networking, most notably) and hardware drivers.  Of 
course, it's very important in those instances.

On the flip side, code that uses quad_t should only assume that it has at 
least 64 bits, or that a long has at least 32 bits; the problems that 
appear otherwise are quite well known by now. :-)

--scott