In-memory format
An in-memory format is the structure and representation used to store data or values in computer memory during program execution.
Modern C
An object representation is the concrete representation of a value in an object's storage, such as memory or persistent storage.
- How it is used
- Distinguishes a stored object's bytes from the value model used to determine C operations.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the byte-based object model and works through byte inspection and endianness, without treating observed storage order as universal.
- Examples
- Uses an unsigned value of 0xAABBCCDD whose inspected bytes print DD, CC, BB, AA on one machine.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate/understand it: Interpret inspected bytes while recognizing that their order can differ across implementations.
Modern C, Third Edition
An object representation is a model describing the physical or storage-level encoding of a value in memory.
- How it is used
- Distinguishes abstract value encoding from byte-level storage when reasoning about pointers, memory access, and portability.
- How deep it goes
- Explains representation layers, byte inspection, unions, alignment, and effective types without detailing every access rule.
- Examples
- Uses an int32_t little-endian layout, byte-array views, and unions as concrete ways to examine storage.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate/understand how C separates values, byte storage, and platform-specific memory representations.
Read how Modern C, Third Edition explains in-memory format →
Related concepts
- union typeused by · A union type is a type whose values can be any one of several specified alternative types or variants.
- binary representationcontrasts with · Binary representation expresses information or values using a base-two positional system with two symbols, conventionally zero and one.
- Apache Arrowimplemented by · Apache Arrow is an open, language-independent specification and software ecosystem for representing and processing columnar data in memory.
- byteshas part · Bytes are an ordered sequence of values, each conventionally eight bits, used to represent binary data.
- consistency modelpart of · A consistency model is a formal specification of how operations on state may be ordered and what values those operations can observe.
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