aliasing bug

2 definitions found

aliasing bug - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  stale pointer bug
  aliasing bug
  
     <programming> (Or "aliasing bug") A class of subtle
     programming errors that can arise in code that does dynamic allocation
     , especially via malloc or equivalent.
  
     If several pointers address (are "aliases for") a given hunk
     of storage, it may happen that the storage is freed or
     reallocated (and thus moved) through one alias and then
     referenced through another, which may lead to subtle (and
     possibly intermittent) lossage depending on the state and the
     allocation history of the malloc arena.  This bug can be
     avoided by never creating aliases for allocated memory, or by
     use of a higher-level language, such as Lisp, which
     employs a garbage collector.
  
     The term "aliasing bug" is nowadays associated with C
     programming, it was already in use in a very similar sense in
     the ALGOL 60 and Fortran communities in the 1960s.
  
     See also smash the stack, fandango on core, memory leak,
     memory smash, spam.
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (1995-05-09)
  

aliasing bug - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  aliasing bug
   n.
  
     A class of subtle programming errors that can arise in code that does
     dynamic allocation, esp. via malloc(3) or equivalent. If several
     pointers address (are aliases for) a given hunk of storage, it may
     happen that the storage is freed or reallocated (and thus moved)
     through one alias and then referenced through another, which may lead
     to subtle (and possibly intermittent) lossage depending on the state
     and the allocation history of the malloc arena. Avoidable by use of
     allocation strategies that never alias allocated core, or by use of
     higher-level languages, such as LISP, which employ a garbage
     collector (see GC). Also called a stale pointer bug. See also
     precedence lossage, smash the stack, fandango on core, memory leak
     , memory smash, overrun screw, spam.
  
     Historical note: Though this term is nowadays associated with C
     programming, it was already in use in a very similar sense in the
     Algol-60 and FORTRAN communities in the 1960s.