On Sat, Oct 16, 2004 at 09:37:02AM +0100, Graham Klyne wrote:
It seems to me that using a single integer/bitstring value for internal representation of IP addresses is rather missing a trick.
But that's just what IP4 address is: 32 bits
My hope for a host address representation would be an abstraction whose internal details are hidden, with functions to convert to/from textual form and wire-form (network byte order), and any other abstract operations that may be required (e.g. subnet testing). This approach should, for example, make migration to IPv6 relatively painless.
You can make such abstraction on top of the existing one. I would be very sad if I couldn't just use IP4 addresses when I want to. Best regards, Tom -- .signature: Too many levels of symbolic links