[Not really OT] Crowdstrike Analysis: It was a NULL pointer from the memory unsafe C++ language.

[H. S. Teoh]

On Fri, Jul 26, 2024 at 07:07:44AM +1200, Richard (Rikki) Andrew Cattermole via Digitalmars-d wrote:
[...]
> I am already convinced that there was multiple failures went on.
> 
> I was able to determine them just from the failures I was seeing on
> Twitter a few hours in.
> 
> But, I can't solve those.
> 
> I can however solve forcing a D user to check for nullability, and if
> that is the best that we can do, then that's all we can do.

Null checking doesn't solve this particular problem, though.  We just
got lucky that the file contained zeroes.  If the file had contained
non-zeroes that weren't what the code was expecting, treating that as a
pointer may have lead to even more disastrous consequences.  A null
check won't save you then.  (I've actually seen this before, in case you
think this is theoretical.)


T

-- 
I've been around long enough to have seen an endless parade of magic new techniques du jour, most of which purport to remove the necessity of thought about your programming problem.  In the end they wind up contributing one or two pieces to the collective wisdom, and fade away in the rearview mirror. -- Walter Bright