&gt;If you find yourself typing char or int or short or long or unsigned into new code, you&#x27;re doing it wrong.<p>int is a type that&#x27;s at least 16 bits large. I can&#x27;t see the problem with using it. If I specify that I want a type that&#x27;s 32 bits large, my code won&#x27;t run on 16 bit systems.<p>Why should I assume? Because the author doesn&#x27;t believe in writing code that works on &quot;20 year old systems&quot;?