Re: [boost] [GSoC] Some new ideas for this year's GSoC

Subject: Re: [boost] [GSoC] Some new ideas for this year's GSoC
From: Thomas Klimpel (Thomas.Klimpel_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-04-08 04:22:00

Phil Endecott wrote:
> I think that having a test data set in mind in advance would make this
> much more concrete to reason about.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Some people regard using an algorithm with a really bad complexity as some sort of bug, no? So the question would be how this "bug" can be exposed, in case it is really a bug. One suggestion in this direction might be a denial of service attack. But in my own experience, such "bugs" tend to cause damage in more subtle and unexpected ways. Perhaps somebody can answer me the opposite question: What is the advantage of having subtle bugs in your algorithms that only wait to bite you when you expect it the least?

Regards,
Thomas