From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 08:47:19 +0000
From: "Douglas A. Gwyn" <gwyn@arl.army.mil>
Message-ID: <39C0DC0F.F5ECF968@arl.army.mil>
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References: <200009131811.TAA15840@whitecrow.demon.co.uk>, <002301c01e48$24674480$89c584c3@cybercable.fr>
Subject: Re: [9fans] no const?
Topicbox-Message-UUID: 07f078b8-eac9-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025

Boyd Roberts wrote:
> if you really wanna smash memory 'const' will not save you;
> say you malloc the arg to strlen.  later on (not in strlen) you could
> smash it.

If the malloced pointer is stored in a properly declared variable,
then subsequent attempts to modify the pointed-to storage result
in a diagnostic.  Since the actual dynamic storage is not inherently
read-only, that is the best that one could hope for from the language.

> > It's easy to complain about what others do, but also pointless.
> really?   criticism serves no purpose?  nonsense.

No, complaining serves no purpose.  Critiquing can be useful if
the analysis uncovers some interesting principles or facts.