Using __attribute((packed))__ on picky architectures

[Darren Rook]

On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Ian Lance Taylor <iant@google.com> wrote:

>> Is there some method to tell the compiler that *val may not be word
>> aligned, so the compiler can generate code to work around the
>> alignment issue (instead of assuming the *val will be word aligned)?
>
> No.  Avoid writing this sort of code.

I thought as much.

Then why is attribute((packed)) provided?  I really don't see a use
for it.  Why not rename it to __attribute__((addressviolation))?

Thanks.