Can a simple a==b 'hang' in and endless loop?

[Grant Edwards]

On 2006-01-19, Terry Hancock <hancock at anansispaceworks.com> wrote:

>>> given that it's trivial to create fork bombs and memory
>>> monsters in all those languages, I think you might need
>>> to define the term "real OS".
>>>
>>> (or do you run all your programs in a virtual sandbox ?)
>> 
>> I guess I never called that sort of DOS attack "crashing"
>> another program.  If that's the sort of think he's talking
>> about, those are just as trivial to do do in Python as
>> they are in C.
>
> But you do agree that you can shoot your dog in the foot
> with it, though, I take it? ;-)

Oh, definitely.  And with C++ you can blow the poor creature's
leg entirely off.

> Yes, true multitasking operating systems and CPUs that support
> them with protected memory spaces are a good thing. My C
> experience mostly dates from machines that didn't have those
> features.

Though it doesn't make writing a correct program much easier, a
real OS mitigates to a large extent the damage you can do with
C.  That said, I only write in C when Python isn't a choice.

-- 
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  I joined scientology
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