Pointers to character types get some special treatment. They can be used to address the individual bytes of other objects (C11 6.3.2.3p7), and the strict aliasi

Pointers to character types get some special treatment. They can be used to address the individual bytes of other objects (C11 6.3.2.3p7), and the strict aliasing rule allows character types to be used to access those bytes (6.5p7) (one interesting note is that uint8_t is not strictly required to be a character type [1]). The problem with assuming things like a pointer working like an integer, is that compiler vendors may choose to start taking advantage of any undefined behavior and point to the standard if you complain. [1]: https://gist.github.com/jibsen/da6be27cde4d526ee564 https://gist.github.com/jibsen/da6be27cde4d526ee564