How large is a DWORD with 32- and 64-bit code?

Question

In Visual C++ a DWORD is just an unsigned long that is machine, platform, and SDK dependent. However, since DWORD is a double word (that is 2 * 16), is a DWORD still 32-bit on 64-bit architectures?

Damp

A a DWORD is not machine, platform, nor SDK dependent. – Nones

Answer 1

Actually, on 32-bit computers a word is 32-bit, but the DWORD type is a leftover from the good old days of 16-bit.

In order to make it easier to port programs to the newer system, Microsoft has decided all the old types will not change size.

You can find the official list here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa383751(VS.85).aspx

All the platform-dependent types that changed with the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit end with _PTR (DWORD_PTR will be 32-bit on 32-bit Windows and 64-bit on 64-bit Windows).

Kyanite

The actual ranges are listed here. – Bluff

@LaurieStearn I think this article is about the data types that the Microsoft compilers use internally, not the winapi data types like DWORD. – Drucill

Yeah, the article in the answer's linked official list now has the ranges: Quote: DWORD: A 32-bit unsigned integer. The range is 0 through 4294967295 decimal. – Bluff

DWORD is on the windows libraries equal to an "unsigned long" – Icarian

Answer 2

It is defined as:

typedef unsigned long       DWORD;

However, according to the MSDN:

On 32-bit platforms, long is synonymous with int.

Therefore, DWORD is 32bit on a 32bit operating system. There is a separate define for a 64bit DWORD:

typdef unsigned _int64 DWORD64;

Hope that helps.

Angadreme

Answer 3

No ... on all Windows platforms DWORD is 32 bits. LONGLONG or LONG64 is used for 64 bit types.

Touchwood

it has nothing to do with Windows, it's Intel term – Quadrivial

@Abyx: the typedef DWORD is very Windows. – Zins

@rubenvb, oh and why it's called DWORD and not something else like QBYTE or DUBWD? – Quadrivial

Answer 4

Windows API defines DWORD sizes as follows:

• x86: sizeof(DWORD) = 4
• x64: sizeof(DWORD) = 4

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