Programmer’s Model

2.4Data types

The processor supports these data types:

doubleword, 64-bit

word, 32-bit

halfword, 16-bit

byte, 8-bit.

Note

When any of these types are described as unsigned, the N-bit data value represents a non-negative integer in the range 0 to +2N-1, using normal binary format.

When any of these types are described as signed, the N-bit data value represents an integer in the range -2N-1to +2N-1-1, using two’s complement format.

For best performance you must align these data types in memory as follows:

doubleword quantities aligned to 8-byte boundaries, doubleword aligned

word quantities aligned to 4-byte boundaries, word aligned

halfword quantities aligned to 2-byte boundaries halfword aligned

byte quantities can be placed on any byte boundary.

The processor supports mixed-endian and unaligned access. For more information, see

Unaligned and mixed-endian data access support on page 2-28.

Note

You cannot use LDRD, LDM, STRD, or STM instructions to access 32-bit quantities if they are not 32-bit aligned.

ARM DDI 0363E

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ARM R4F, r1p3 manual Data types, Unaligned and mixed-endian data access support on