[Shootout-list] Re: Integer overflow

[Brian Hurt]

On Wed, 22 Sep 2004, Peter Hinely wrote:

> Yes, exactly!  So I proposed adding column to the pages giving a very
> coarse-grained display of what classes mistakes the entry allows.

Can I sugest we change it from a security focus to a feature focus?  
Several important features have little or nothing to do with security.

My short list of features: 

- primary paradigm: procedural(C, Perl)/OO (C++, Java)/functional (Lisp,
ML)

- Garbage collectiong type: non-gc (C/C++), reference counting, 
[generational-]marking&sweep, [generational-]copying

- Execution style: native (C/ocaml), virtual machine (Java/ocamlb), 
interpreted (perl)

> You dismissed integer overflow as not being important. If you feel that
> way, fine, but you don't have to force your view on every visitor to the
> Shootout pages.  

What boggles my imagination is why it's considered that important.  By 
proposing that we add a special feature to the main page, listing the 
behavior of every language for this feature, and this feature alone, you 
are putting this feature forward as the *defining* feature of languages.  
I don't think it's I or Brandon who are trying to force our views onto 
other people, I think it's you.

-- 
"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive,
difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of
mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it."
                                - Gene Spafford 
Brian