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Using REM!Fast for alignment
Post by rtr2 on May 23^rd, 2015, 11:55am

One of the effects of REM!Fast is to align the specified scalar variable(s) - but not arrays - onto a DWORD boundary, i.e. an address which is an exact multiple of 4. This can contribute to a speed improvement but may also be useful in its own right.

For example if a variable is accessed from assembler code the primary effect of REM!Fast is irrelevant (the variable is accessed by name only when the code is assembled, so there is no benefit in speeding up this access) however aligning the variable may nevertheless have an advantage, such as guaranteeing atomicity.

Of course in a situation when a variable must be aligned then REM!Fast is not usually a good method, because it means the program cannot be tested in the IDE. Using a conventional method of achieving alignment (e.g. putting the variable in a structure) is normally more appropriate.

Richard.

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