On: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

[cpeterso]

See also the "Elephant in Cairo" search algorithm:

1. Go to Africa.

2. Put an elephant in Cairo.

3. Start at the Cape of Good Hope.

4. Work northward in an orderly manner, traversing the continent alternately east and west,

5. During each traverse pass:

* Catch each animal seen.

* Compare each animal caught to a known elephant.

* Stop when a match is detected.

6. If you are in Cairo, then there are no elephants in Africa (other than the one you placed there).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_in_Cairo

[JadeNB → cpeterso]

> 6. If you are in Cairo, then there are no elephants in Africa (other than the one you placed there).

Or, perhaps, other elephants already in Cairo ….

[Viliam1234 → JadeNB]

I suspect there is a "Falsehoods programmers believe about elephants" article somewhere...

[cardiffspaceman → Viliam1234]

Not to mention, falsehoods about the geography of Africa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Agulhas

[robocat → cpeterso]

That algorithm literally has race condition faults.

It needs a movable memory fence that stretches from East to West.