Re: Bug/Gross InEfficiency in HeathField's fgetline program


"Ben Bacarisse" <ben.usenet@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
[Interview]er: "Here is a wooden box to keep apples in.
What security flaws can you find in it?"
[Interview]ee (after a careful examination):
"There aren't any."
er: "You failed the interview. You didn't consider the risk
of someone breaking someone's skull with it."
ee: "That's not a proper use of the box! The box is
perfectly safe if used properly."
er: "That wouldn't help."

Analogies are slippery things. I could have gone this way:

er: "You failed the interview. You didn't consider the risk
of staking them too high and someone being hurt if they
fall over."
ee: "That's not a proper use of the box! The box is
perfectly safe if used properly. On page 206 of the manual
for these boxes it clearly says stack no more than 5 high."
er: "That wouldn't help."

I post this because I don't like analogies, not because it illustrates
my point of view! To come clean, I am probably somewhere in the
middle with a leaning towards the view that errors result from sloppy
programming (in general) as much as from misuse of specific "risky"
functions.

You've got to have a degree of knowledge about the fruit industry before you can say whether the box is dangerous.
For instance if the boxes look exactly like orgage boxes, which are typically stacked ten high, then the fact that they will topple over if stacked more than five is an obvious danger.
However if established practise in fruit warehouses is to stack boxes no more than three high, and there is nothing about the apple boxes to suggest that they are unusual, then it is not a safety risk. In fact we create a safety risk by sticking a "stack no more than five high" label on it, because it gets people out of the habit of observing notices.


--
Free games and programming goodies.
http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~bgy1mm

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Admins to Boxes ratio
    ... boss, it's CRITICAL that you make these ideas your boss's ideas. ... critical step if you're the only S/A managing these boxes. ... high risk environment. ...
    (AIX-L)
  • Re: OT : HTML editors?
    ... >> If you want to risk your hair, ... > boxes are about 2.5 x as wide as they should be. ... horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: Windows Virus using group posters
    ... Your email address absolutely does put you at risk - a mope can't send you ... the history of the internet was propagated on Unix boxes. ... > that currently 60% of spam comes from MS Windows machines that have ... > risk' of spam attacks. ...
    (comp.lang.cobol)
  • Re: Admins to Boxes ratio
    ... number of system administrators to boxes ratio. ... high risk environment. ...
    (AIX-L)
  • Re: Death of a crew member
    ... Did he think the gain would outweigh the risk? ... There's a proper way and time for anything. ...
    (soc.culture.filipino)