CODEWITHSUNDEEP
operating-system
countunique
countunique

Reputation: 4296

Point of 64-bit programs?

It seems like every program that I download has a 32-bit and a 64-bit version. Even small programs like notepad clones.

To my understanding, a 64-bit program can just access more than 4 gigs of memory versus 32-bit, so why do we want 64-bit versions of low-resource-consuming programs?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 100

Answers (1)

Marc B
Marc B

Reputation: 360702

on Intel/Amd architectures, 64bit apps have access to more general purpose registers versus classic x86. Even if various bits of the code are naturally larger because they're using 64bit ints instead of 32bits, the extra registers can actually reduce code size by reducing the need for register juggling.

Even if a 64bit notepad doesn't make sense, it's still better to use the native OS api calls (e.g. the 64bit versions) rather than having to call through compatibility/translations layers to 32bit versions.

Upvotes: 1

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