Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!das
From: das@Apple.COM (David Shayer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: MacsBug symbols, PopUpMenus & Think C 4.02
Message-ID: <48296@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 20 Jan 91 21:01:35 GMT
References: <1991Jan20.160740.3627@news.iastate.edu>
Distribution: na
Organization: The Troll Den
Lines: 25

In article <1991Jan20.160740.3627@news.iastate.edu> niko@iastate.edu (Schuessler Nikolaus E) writes:
>Couple of questions I had over break.
>
>1) Does it matter if you leave MacsBug symbols in your code if you
>   release it to the public, or don't you (you can't reverse engineer
>   programs from the symbols, can you?)

The first step in disassembling your code is figuring out where the
procedure boundaries are.  A tool like MacNosy will do this auto-
matically, but if you leave the Macsbug symbols in, its much easier.
Also, the names of your routines (as listed in the Macsbug symbols)
will often give the hacker some idea of what the routine is used for,
which he would otherwise have to get by reading the assembly code.
Of course, Macsbug symbols don't tell you anything about the code,
data, or variables in the program.

If you take out Macsbug symbols, other programmers who find a
bug in your code will have a much harder time telling you where
the bug is.

Apple takes symbols out of the Finder, but leaves them in MPW.

Why are you afraid of people disassembling your code anyway?

David