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From: "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>
Subject: Re: How do I write directly to a memory address?
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Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 17:15:17 +0100
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Date: 2011-02-09T17:15:17+01:00
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On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:34:02 -0500, Hyman Rosen wrote:

> On 2/8/2011 7:03 PM, Randy Brukardt wrote:
>> The 1% that are not garbage are written in a language that supports and
>> enforces real contracts.
> 
> I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it. I sit day after day at a
> computer, and my spreadsheets calculate, my e-mail is delivered,
> my documents print, my wallpaper updates itself, my compilers
> compile my code, and my angry birds wreak havoc on smug pigs.
> Characterizing all of these programs as garbage because they fail
> to adhere to some Platonic ideal of perfect program design is
> ridiculous.
> 
> The mechanical world doesn't work that way - cars get recalled,
> pipes burst, termites eat wood, stray voltage shocks pedestrians.

Physical world is ruled by statistical laws. Software is not controlled by
such laws. It is theoretically possible to say if a program is correct,
while no any car is.

Even if the damage inflicted by a program is less than one by a
malfunctioned hardware there is a psychological difference. People do not
accept preventable or deliberate damages. E.g. it is OK for thousands to
die in car accidents, but intolerable when a single person die in gun
shooting.

-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de