Hack in gcc/c-decl.c?

[Mike Stump]

On Dec 28, 2005, at 8:49 PM, Domagoj D wrote:
> Can anyone explain me the following gcc/c-decl.c code (4.0.2, seems to
> be unchanged in 4.2)?

What part was unclear?

> #define I_SYMBOL_BINDING(node) \
>   (((struct lang_identifier *)
> IDENTIFIER_NODE_CHECK(node))->symbol_binding)

Yes, each identifier is a lang_identifier:

   /* sizeof (struct lang_identifier), so make_node () creates
      identifier nodes long enough for the language-specific slots.  */
   size_t identifier_size;

> Let's assume that new_decl is a VAR_DECL node. Than,
> IDENTIFIER_NODE_CHECK(DECL_NAME(new_decl))
>  = new_decl->decl->name, which is an IDENTIFIER_NODE. How is it
> possible to cast it to (struct lang_identifier *) ??

Because that is the type of the pointer?

> [The worst thing is that it seems to work fine.]

As designed?