Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!compass!worley From: worley@compass.com (Dale Worley) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: Can analysis detect undefined expressions? Message-ID: Date: 14 Jun 91 14:31:26 GMT References: <1991Jun13.015548.24724@grebyn.com> <1991Jun13.231924.3711@ism.isc.com> Sender: root@compass.com Followup-To: comp.lang.c Distribution: world Organization: Compass, Inc., Wakefield, MA, U.S.A. Lines: 14 In-reply-to: willcr@bud.sos.ivy.isc.com's message of 13 Jun 91 23:19:24 GMT In article <1991Jun13.231924.3711@ism.isc.com> willcr@bud.sos.ivy.isc.com (Will Crowder) writes: Determining at compile time of p could ever be equal to q would require exhaustive code path analysis, and this analysis has been shown to take longer than the estimated remaining lifespan of the galaxy for anything over a few lines. (I can't remember that great quote I heard about it, or I'd put it in my .sig.) Even worse, there is *no* algorithm which can do the job for all programs, no matter *how* much time it is given. Dale Worley Compass, Inc. worley@compass.com -- It's one thing to burn down the shithouse, it's quite another to install plumbing. -- P.J. O'Rourke, on revolution