copy_cast.cpp

template<typename From, typename To>
inline To copy_cast(const From& from)
{
  To to;
  memcpy(&to, &from, sizeof(from));
  return to;
}

int main() {
  float f = 0.1;
  int i = copy_cast<float, int>(f);
  printf("0x%x\n", i); // Outputs: 0x3dcccccd
  
  // Generated assembly
  
  // GCC 4.1.2 (-O2 and -O3)
  // movl  $0x3dcccccd, 20(%rsp)
  // movl  20(%rsp), %esi
  // call  printf
  
  // Clang 3.4 
  // movl  $1036831949, %esi       ## imm = 0x3DCCCCCD
  // xorl  %eax, %eax
  // callq _printf
  
  return 0;
}