Now that we're off in the weeds, yes, there are not just disassemblers, but decompilers as well, and there have been for 40 years. I think I used my first one on an Apple ][.
The thing with those tools is that you don't get the variable names, or comments, or the exact control structures, etc., because they don't know what the author was trying to do (and often they aren't sure what language - computer or human) the code was written in, although depending on the platform, often humans can figure that part out. If you run an application through a decompiler/disassembler, you get something that if you recompile it will work, but it is not a road map to what the person was thinking, because optimizing compilers in particular take all sorts of liberties with the original source to get an executable that is smaller and/or runs faster. Even though you get source (and at least in theory can get source in whatever source language you want), that doesn't save you a lot of time. HOWEVER, if the code is just encrypted, it is far, far easier to get to back to what the author is really doing. Stuxnet, for instance, is a binary that isn't particularly large, but the malware experts have been trying for years to decipher all of it, and they have not, yet. On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 12:59 PM, Richard Gaskin <ambassa...@fourthworld.com > wrote: > Mike Kerner wrote: > >> See thread from other list - we had static compilation of HC stacks and >> projects back in the 80's and early 90's with Heizer Software's CompileIt! >> and Double-XX! (the exclamation points were part of the name). >> > > Those were clever, but a LOT of work to attempt to use well. Still, > compilation could be done, but I'd sooner see it pursued for the > performance gain than the perceived security benefit. > > While it's true that a disassembler wouldn't be able to reconstruct the > LiveCode source (yet), modern disassemblers can produce readable C, some > even C#, so the seeming security is only a matter of degrees. > > > -- > Richard Gaskin > Fourth World > LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com > Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com > Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FourthWorldSys > > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your > subscription preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode > -- On the first day, God created the heavens and the Earth On the second day, God created the oceans. On the third day, God put the animals on hold for a few hours, and did a little diving. And God said, "This is good." _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
