🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3975:Nov1323:25:4390@kramden.acf.nyu.edu>,
brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) writes:
> Here are two articles about the practical solution to the halting
> problem.

The technique referred to is commonly known as "Tortoise and Hare".
It's a very handy technique for programs that wander around graphs
and other finite data structures.

Most of the non-terminating loops my programs go into involve constructing
ever larger data structures, so tend to be detected by the storage allocator...

Eiffel is one of the few languages around which provides for termination tests:
when you write a loop you can provide an expression whose value must decrease
on each iteration, while remaining non-negative.  If it goes negative or fails
to decrease, the informal proof of termination you presumably had in mind when
you wrote the loop is flawed.  An old idea and a simple one.  It's _very_ nice
to see it actually provided as a debugging tool that's easy to use.
-- 
The problem about real life is that moving one's knight to QB3
may always be replied to with a lob across the net.  --Alasdair Macintyre.