Re: halting problem I've got more questions

In article <1172518173.411224.117740@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
mainargv@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

hi

After thinking more about it, I've got more problems then before. I've
looked at several versions of the halting problem argument. Most of
them are in C language. after some thought, it's clearly not right.
(because C is not interpreted, and a function is different from a
program.)

Compiled v. interpreted is not an issue. The only issue is that the
underlying system (compiled C, lambda calculus, whatever) supports the
(alleged) implementation of the mathematical function WillHalt which
maps every well-formed program text to a Boolean.

Of course every actual C system (or actual system of any kind) will have
resource bounds that make it not in fact suitable for supporting
unbounded computations. That's why I prefer to view the halting problem
argument in a purely mathematical context, e.g. in terms of recursive
functions or lambda calculus.

But, if you're willing to ignore the resource bounds, versions in C or
whatever are perfectly kosher.


[snip]

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