c++ - Can pointers be of different sizes?

This answer comes with an interesting statement - "on machines where int* is smaller than a char*". (let's exclude pointers to functions)

Is it possible for pointers to different types to have different sizes? Why would this be useful?

Answer

Yes, it's entirely possible. On some machines, a pointer to a byte contains two values: A pointer to the WORD address of the memory word containing the byte, and a "byte index" that gives the position of the byte within the word. E.g. on a 32-bit machine, the "byte index" is 0..3.

This would require more storage space than a "int *", which is just a pointer to the relevant word.