alt Hacker NewsIf you squeeze your eyes a bit, C compilers for Windows used to have them, with far pointers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_pointer)
Similarly, CPU architectures that use descriptors can (have to?) have languages with that notion.
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frmdstryr • yesterday at 9:23 PM
After more searching I found this article https://www.gingerbill.org/article/2020/05/17/relative-point...
A far pointer sounds like the global based pointer described in that article. The far pointer Wikipedia article says they are problematic but doesn't give much reasoning as to why.
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The FS and GS segment selectors are still used in x86-64, typically for `thread_local` storage, but they can be repurposed.
`thread_local` is an example of a "relative pointer" though. Instructions to access the thread local are prefixed with `fs:` or `gs:`, and point relative to the address in the respective segment register.