> On Feb 18, 2016, at 9:50 AM, Jeffrey Schwartz <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Now THAT is an "Internet of Things…that go BOOM!”
>>
>
> The software in a missile is one of the places where endless loops are
> self correcting.

Heh…there’s a memorable line to that effect in "Programming Perl” by Larry Wall:

<https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/programming-perl-3rd/0596000278/ch04s04.html>

"If the notion of infinite loops bothers you, we should point out that you can always fall out of the loop at any point with an explicit loop-control operator such as last. Of course, if you're writing the code to control a cruise missile, you may not actually need an explicit loop exit. The loop will be terminated automatically at the appropriate moment.”

I expect Larry isn’t the first programmer to use that analogy….

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs