Re: [Caml-list] Q: safe language

[Florian Hars <hars@bik-gmbh.de>]

SooHyoung Oh wrote:
 > Some questions about "safe" language:
 > - Is it necessary for a safe language to have a type system?

Yes, but it needn't be static nor strong. Perl (like the other, less obfuscated
dialects of Lisp :-)) is a safe language, too: there is no way that the
execution of a valid instruction like an access of a variable will result in a
program crash, the only risk is an unexpected result if you miss some $ in
${$$r{$i}}[$j].

In C, on the other hand, it is perfectly possible to have a valid code fragment

   int * i_ptr;

   i_ptr = get_some_address();
   &i = 42;

that may occasionally crash.

 > - Isn't Lisp a safe language?

Yes, as Vitaly Lugovsky has convincingly demonstrated in another message.

Yours, Florian
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