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Re: Bug in timsort!?

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On 25/02/2015 16:04, Peter Otten wrote:
> Sturla Molden wrote:
>
>> On 24/02/15 22:34, Roy Smith wrote:
>>> http://envisage-project.eu/proving-android-java-and-python-sorting-algorithm-is-broken-and-how-to-fix-it/
>>>
>>
>> This is awful. It is broken for arrays longer than 2**49 elements. With
>> 8 bytes per PyObject* pointer this is >4096 terabytes of RAM. I don't
>> see how we can fix this in time.
>>
>> Oh yes, and they mention that TimSort is used on billions of devices due
>> to Android mobile phones. This is clearly very relevant for mobile
>> phones. Next thing you know your litte Samsung Galaxy with more than
>> 4096 terabytes breaks down from a stack overflow in TimSort.
>
> Yeah, I'm looking forward to see comparable bugs being closed as "cannot
> reproduce" by some of the jokers. I suppose that you all had a note
> scribbled on the margin of your copy of Arithmetica that this cannot happen
> with arrays of lengths seen in practice until 2038 or so.
>
> These guys found a bug that is subtler than what most of us have dealt with
> in a widely used piece of code originally developed by one of the smarter
> members of the python "community".
>
> I bow my head to them and say thank you.
>

Reading the bug report http://bugs.python.org/issue23515, specifically 
msg236586, it looks as if the proposed fix was wrong and one of the 
smarter members of the python community fixed it.

-- 
My fellow Pythonistas, ask not what our language can do for you, ask
what you can do for our language.

Mark Lawrence

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Thread

Bug in timsort!? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2015-02-24 13:34 -0800
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Zachary Ware <zachary.ware+pylist@gmail.com> - 2015-02-24 15:40 -0600
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-02-24 21:49 +0000
    Re: Bug in timsort!? sohcahtoa82@gmail.com - 2015-02-24 14:36 -0800
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-02-25 00:38 +0000
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-02-24 22:45 +0000
    Re: Bug in timsort!? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-02-24 15:59 -0700
    Re: Bug in timsort!? Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 11:34 +0000
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-02-25 15:49 +0000
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 10:33 +1100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2015-02-24 23:38 +0000
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Skip Montanaro <skip.montanaro@gmail.com> - 2015-02-24 17:50 -0600
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 11:07 +1100
    Re: Bug in timsort!? Paddy <paddy3118@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 01:10 -0800
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 21:11 +1100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Kaynor <ckaynor@zindagigames.com> - 2015-02-24 16:38 -0800
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2015-02-24 21:52 -0500
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Dave Angel <davea@davea.name> - 2015-02-24 21:41 -0500
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Ned Deily <nad@acm.org> - 2015-02-25 01:04 -0800
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Sturla Molden <sturla.molden@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 14:58 +0100
    Re: Bug in timsort!? alister <alister.nospam.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2015-02-25 15:03 +0000
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Zachary Ware <zachary.ware+pylist@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 09:23 -0600
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2015-02-25 16:08 -0500
    Re: Bug in timsort!? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2015-02-25 19:12 -0500
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Jonas Wielicki <jonas@wielicki.name> - 2015-02-25 15:07 +0100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-02-26 01:33 +1100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Sturla Molden <sturla.molden@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 16:05 +0100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-02-26 02:11 +1100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Peter Otten <__peter__@web.de> - 2015-02-25 17:04 +0100
    Re: Bug in timsort!? Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 18:22 +0100
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Sturla Molden <sturla.molden@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 19:41 +0100
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Jonas Wielicki <jonas@wielicki.name> - 2015-02-25 19:46 +0100
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-02-25 20:07 +0000
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Sturla Molden <sturla.molden@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 17:44 +0100
    Re: Bug in timsort!? Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 18:29 +0100
    Re: Bug in timsort!? Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2015-02-26 10:13 +1100
      Re: Bug in timsort!? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 22:51 -0700
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-02-25 16:50 +0000
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-02-25 16:55 +0000
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Kaynor <ckaynor@zindagigames.com> - 2015-02-25 08:56 -0800
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-02-26 04:18 +1100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Peter Otten <__peter__@web.de> - 2015-02-25 18:21 +0100
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-02-25 12:42 -0700
  Re: Bug in timsort!? Serhiy Storchaka <storchaka@gmail.com> - 2015-02-26 09:33 +0200

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