playing with strict aliasing

strict_aliasing.cpp

#include <stdio.h>

typedef unsigned int DWORD;
typedef unsigned short WORD;

inline DWORD
SwapWords (DWORD val)
{
    WORD * p = (WORD*) &val;
    WORD t;
    
    printf("%d + (%d * 2^16)\n", p[0], p[1]);
    t = p[0];
    p[0] = p[1];
    p[1] = t;
    printf("DWORD: %d WORD: %d\n", sizeof(DWORD)*8, sizeof(WORD)*8);
    printf("%d + (%d * 2^16)\n", p[0], p[1]);
    
    return val;
}

int
main ()
{
  printf ("%d\n", SwapWords (65539));
  return 0;
}

Please checkout the explanations here.