[Python-Dev] Discussion on Lib/test/crashers/

Raymond Hettinger rhettinger at ewtllc.com
Mon Jul 10 22:11:10 CEST 2006


Brett Cannon wrote:

> As I am sure some have noticed, as part of my dissertation I have been 
> trying to fix the various crashers.

Nice project.

One quick thought:  Any crasher that relies on gc.get_referrers() should 
not be considered a bug.  The codebase should not be convoluted, 
complexified, obfucated, altered, touched, or slowed down just prevent 
perverse, sadistic safe-cracking using this tool.  The docs are clear on 
this subject:

"Care must be taken when using objeccts returned by get_referrers() 
becasue some of them could still be under construction and hence in a 
temporarily invalid state.  Avoid using get_referrers() for any purpose 
other than debugging."



Raymond


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