[Shootout-list] Re: sumcol - when the correct answer is wrong :-)

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Brent Fulgham wrote:
>
> I disagree.  I don't think it is reasonable behavior
> to allow integer overlow, unless the developer
> explicitely codes to allow this behavior.  Silently
> handling a catastrophic condition like this is why
> cancer patients receive overdoses of radiation,
> satellites crash into planets, and corporate loan
> balances turn into "credit" values.

This is a silly argument.  There's no a priori reason to assume that
overflow is catastrophic.  You've just cherry picked some specific
problems where it is.  It's not catastrophic to clamp a MPEG codec or a
3D pipeline, usually.  It's often adviseable to do so for performance
reasons.

Let's keep personal biases about "what languages should do" out of the
Shootout.  Otherwise we'll get into additional silliness, like if a
language doesn't garbage collect or isn't statically typechecked it's an
'error'.  From an OCaml standpoint I could choose to look at the vast
majority of languages as 'erroneous' in their typechecking, if I wanted
to be self-centered about it.  I don't; it's not useful to regard things
this way.

A comparison sheet might be useful, i.e. limits, overflow behavior, etc.
But also kinda boring to come up with.  I think "the job" of the
Shootout is to benchmark performance.  Just find a reasonable least
common denominator standard for the benchmark, i.e. what must be
fulfilled.


Cheers,                         www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.