# Tagged pointers * Tagged pointers - * [mikeash.com: Friday Q\&A 2012-07-27: Let's Build Tagged Pointers](https://www.mikeash.com/pyblog/friday-qa-2012-07-27-lets-build-tagged-pointers.html) * What is pointer alignment? Most computer architectures have a concept of *pointer alignment* where a pointer to a data type should be a multiple of some power of two. This fact is what enables pointer tagging which makes use of "unused" bits in pointer values.