[Techtalk] Theory vs. practice

[Jenn Vesperman]

On Tue, 2002-01-15 at 05:15, jhamilto at n2h2.com wrote:
> >Yes, but programmers aren't being taught how to avoid these coding
> >errors, or what errors to avoid.
> 
> Are you serious? That makes so much more sense. As a sysadmin, It's so frustrating to see buffer overflow problems occuring over and over again, when it seems like 'buffer overflow' lecture would be the first ones taught to a programmer. I shouldn't make such assumptions, since I've never taken a programming course. (okay, pascal WAY back when, but I flunked miserably). 
> 
> Jen H.   (<-- I'll try to remember to write Jen H, since there are so many Jen's!)

I did a full, professional, programming course in the late 1980s (if I
hadn't gotten sick with a then-undiagnosable illness, I'd have a
bachelor's). I first heard of buffer overflow - by that name - in the
late 1990s. 

We were taught to program 'defensively', but as a way of reducing bugs
in the final program. I don't remember being taught to program against
malicious intrusion - but then, it was less of a problem at that time.
That was the era of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga.

However, many programmers trained in that era are still out there,
hacking code or playing 'IT Manager'.


Jenn V.
-- 
    "Do you ever wonder if there's a whole section of geek culture 
        	you miss out on by being a geek?" - Dancer.

jenn at anthill.echidna.id.au     http://anthill.echidna.id.au/~jenn/