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About this quote

What does it mean?
A cast from a long to a char pointer is marked with a painful comment, indicating a risky conversion.
In plain terms
Casting a long to a char pointer is unsafe.
What can you take from it?
Be cautious with pointer casts.

Where it applies

  • when interfacing with legacy APIs
  • in systems programming

Putting it to work

  • use proper conversion functions
  • add runtime checks

Questions to consider

  • What alternatives exist to this cast?
  • How can you test for its safety?

Another view

Such casts can cause undefined behavior on many platforms.

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