Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think comparing an activity that can result in loss of life to one that doesn't is probably on the dishonest side.
What language is used to control critical devices like pacemakers?
Or fly airplanes for that matter
Am I a Good C Programmer?
11–20 of 39 posts
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think comparing an activity that can result in loss of life to one that doesn't is probably on the dishonest side.
What language is used to control critical devices like pacemakers?
then make different decisions for those devices. That was actually the point being made.
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#13This is the usual argument, "I am a good careful driver, only the other ones do mistakes, so we don't need seat belts".
I think comparing an activity that can result in loss of life to one that doesn't is probably on the dishonest side.
Our lives and livelyhood depend on software on any modern society.
Additionally people have died due to software bugs, Therac-25 being quite famous, with its Assembly optimization tricks.
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#14I was part of a team at a job about 20 years ago that ported an existing C codebase over to (then new) Java. Once we got everything working, a co-worker who was very familiar with the old C codebase remarked that with C it took a lot longer to get things working the first time, but once they were working, they stayed working whereas with Java you could get things working pretty quick, but you'd start to see problems…
Author here. This is my experience, though I started in Java and transitioned to C. My C code also does not need to be updated for language changes and such.
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Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#15Come on, are you really comparing a calculator to any web API server that is exposed 24/7/365 to malicious people trying to exploit it using various ways, which has many network endpoints with various HTTP methods, authentication, authorization, RBAC, using databases, connection encryption, randomness, hashing, maybe compression, graphics/video/audio conversion, caching and so on?
I'm in love with "bc", I don't know if I use your version or not, but well... it's a calculator... It's well written, it does the job, but come on...
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#16This is the usual argument, "I am a good careful driver, only the other ones do mistakes, so we don't need seat belts".
I think comparing an activity that can result in loss of life to one that doesn't is probably on the dishonest side.
Hospitals in at least 4 states diverting patients from emergency rooms after ransomware attack - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/11/28/ardent...
Moreover, it is untenable to maintain a small island of "secure software" for "important things" in a vast ocean of careless and vulnerable code. Inevitably, the island gets infected, and not even air-gaps can save it, as stuxnet showed.
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#17Come on, are you really comparing a calculator to any web API server that is exposed 24/7/365 to malicious people trying to exploit it using various ways, which has many network endpoints with various HTTP methods, authentication, authorization, RBAC, using databases, connection encryption, randomness, hashing, maybe compression, graphics/video/audio conversion, caching and so on? I'm in love with "bc", I don't know…
Author here.
I'm currently making a build system and a VCS with a server that will be exposed 24/7/365 with HTTP, authentication, authorization RBAC, a database, connection encryption, randomness, hashing, compression, caching, and streaming of large files.
bc is my only current data point since this project is not finished, but once it is, we'll start to get real data about what I can do.
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#18This is the usual argument, "I am a good careful driver, only the other ones do mistakes, so we don't need seat belts".
Author here.
I think you need to read to the end of the post. And then read the one it links to because that one says that I will rewrite all of my new project in a memory-safe language. (bc, unfortunately, needs to stay in C because it needs to have zero dependencies.)
I'm not making the argument that C is good, or that I am good at C. I'm comparing myself against the average.
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think comparing an activity that can result in loss of life to one that doesn't is probably on the dishonest side.
Our lives and livelyhood depend on software on any modern society. Additionally people have died due to software bugs, Therac-25 being quite famous, with its Assembly optimization tricks.
a plumbers livelihood depends on his tools but no one in their right mind would compare a hammer to a seatbelt like this.
The reason people like you are not listened to is that you're so unreasonable.
It's not an accident that ada was designed years ago for software that IS critical in this manner, because different decisions get made. But the vast majority of software is not going to end up with people dead, hence why arguments comparing life-or-death situations with your run-of-the-mill C code is assinine.
Yes, it's true that GCC code will never live under the same level of scrutiny as NASA code, nor should it.
Re: Am I a Good C Programmer?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think comparing an activity that can result in loss of life to one that doesn't is probably on the dishonest side.
Hospitals in at least 4 states diverting patients from emergency rooms after ransomware attack - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/11/28/ardent... Moreover, it is untenable to maintain a small island of "secure software" for "important things" in a vast ocean of careless and vulnerable code. Inevitably, the island gets infected, and not even air-gaps can save it, as stuxnet showed.
I wouldn't let you near security decisions, ever. If anything, this attitude is very representative of what's wrong with "security" nowadays.
This idea that all code must be treated equally wrt security is why security people are oddly never effective.