> -----Original Message----- > From: Fargusson.Alan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 1:35 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Perpetuating Myths about the zSeries > > > Of course this is a programmer error, and the hardware is > doing the right thing. But is the OS doing the right thing? > The programmer didn't ask the OS to abort the program. >
Sure he did! He said: "I'm too busy, stupid, or egotistical to handle this problem. You do something." In a case like this I cannot think of a generic action which could address the problem. If the programming is attempting to update a protected or non-existant location, should it just ignore the store? What if the information to be stored is critical to the future running of the program? What now? On reading a protected or non-existant location, what should be returned? binary zeros? What about combining these cases where a program thinks it has saved a critical calculation (such as your bonus for the year) but did it wrong and the OS said "OK, I'll just ignore that store". It then tries to get your bonus amount from that location, sees that it is zero and doesn't give you your bonus? Wouldn't prefer that something terrible happen so that the end user will be force to check into it? Granted, a somewhat silly example, but the "what to do" simply cannot be generally answered by the OS. Only the application programmer can do this. And they refused (My programs are never in error, in error, in error, in error, ...) Actually, believe it or not, on an old IBM DOS system, a data exception would cause a message similar to: JOB TERMINATED DUE TO PROGRAM REQUEST A programmer screamed at me that his program did NOT request that the job be terminated! He was royally angry at this "accusation". Not a good choice of words. I would have preferred something like: JOB TERMINATED DUE TO PROGRAMMER ERROR OR STUPIDITY! <BIG GRIN> -- John McKown Senior Systems Programmer UICI Insurance Center Applications & Solutions Team +1.817.255.3225 This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and its' content is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this transmission, or taking any action based on it, is strictly prohibited.
