Question

The 8-bit,16-bit,32-bit,64-bit operating systems have different data range for
integers,float and double values.

Is this the compiler or the processor that makes difference(8bit,16bit,32bit,64bit).

If in a network if a 16 bit integer data from one system is transferred to a 32 bit system
or vice-versa will the data be correctly represented in memory.Please help me to understand.

Answer 1

Ultimately, it is up to the compiler. The compiler is free to choose any data types it likes^*, even if it has to emulate their behaviour with software routines. Of course, typically, for efficiency it will try to replicate the native types of the underlying hardware.

As to your second question, yes, of course, if you transfer the raw representation from one architecture to another, it may be interpreted incorrectly (endianness is another issue). That is why functions like ntohs() are used.

_{* Well, not literally anything it likes. The C standard places some constraints, such as that an int must be at least as large as a short.}