4 ms·

It'd be great if it could describe the performance of code in detail, but for now just adding a skill to detect if a bit of code has any infinite loops would be

It'd be great if it could describe the performance of code in detail, but for now just adding a skill to detect if a bit of code has any infinite loops would be a quick and easy hack to be going on with.

mhmmmmmm 2y ago
Is reliably detecting if code has any infinite loops feasible? Sounds like the halting problem.
- Hendrikto 2y ago
  Not in the general case, but you could detect specific common patterns.
- IanCal 2y ago
  It depends how you define reliably. The halting problem isn't so relevant in most development, and nothing stops you having a classifier that says "yes", "no" or "maybe". You can identify code that definitely finishes, and you can identify code that definitely doesn't. You can also identify some risky code that probably might. Under condition X, it would go into an infinite loop - even if you're not sure if condition X can be met.
  - withinboredom 2y ago
    The problem is that you can do this for specific functions/methods, but you cannot do this for a PROGRAM. All programs are "maybe", by definition. You want it to run until you tell it to stop, but you may never tell it to stop. Ergo, all programs have some sort of infinite loop in them somewhere, even if it is buried in your framework or language runtime.
    - IanCal 2y ago
      I really don't think that's the definition of a program. > You want it to run until you tell it to stop, No? Many programs I don't want to run until I tell them to stop. Even then, this reduces it to irrelevance.
      - withinboredom 2y ago
        Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t clear: not the user, the programmer. This is true for almost all programs. Even a simple “print hello world” involves at least one intentional infinite loop: sending bytes to the buffer. The buffer could remain full forever.
- GuB-42 2y ago
  It is exactly the halting problem. Finding some infinite loops is possible, there are even some obvious cases, but finding "any" infinite loops is not. In fact, even the obvious cases are not if you take interrupts into account. I think that's the joke. In a sci-fi story, that would make the computer explode.

mhmmmmmm 2y ago

Is reliably detecting if code has any infinite loops feasible? Sounds like the halting problem.

Hendrikto 2y ago
Not in the general case, but you could detect specific common patterns.
IanCal 2y ago
It depends how you define reliably. The halting problem isn't so relevant in most development, and nothing stops you having a classifier that says "yes", "no" or "maybe". You can identify code that definitely finishes, and you can identify code that definitely doesn't. You can also identify some risky code that probably might. Under condition X, it would go into an infinite loop - even if you're not sure if condition X can be met.
- withinboredom 2y ago
  The problem is that you can do this for specific functions/methods, but you cannot do this for a PROGRAM. All programs are "maybe", by definition. You want it to run until you tell it to stop, but you may never tell it to stop. Ergo, all programs have some sort of infinite loop in them somewhere, even if it is buried in your framework or language runtime.
  - IanCal 2y ago
    I really don't think that's the definition of a program. > You want it to run until you tell it to stop, No? Many programs I don't want to run until I tell them to stop. Even then, this reduces it to irrelevance.
    - withinboredom 2y ago
      Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t clear: not the user, the programmer. This is true for almost all programs. Even a simple “print hello world” involves at least one intentional infinite loop: sending bytes to the buffer. The buffer could remain full forever.
GuB-42 2y ago
It is exactly the halting problem. Finding some infinite loops is possible, there are even some obvious cases, but finding "any" infinite loops is not. In fact, even the obvious cases are not if you take interrupts into account. I think that's the joke. In a sci-fi story, that would make the computer explode.