Libpng Updates Fix 21-Year-Old Null Dereference Bug

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Libpng Updates Fix 21-Year-Old Null Dereference Bug

Libpng 1.6.27, 1.5.28, 1.4.20, 1.2.57, and 1.0.67 were all released today to fix a pointer null dereference bug dating back to 1995...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Libpng-21-Year-Bug-Fix

[Azrael5]

A good news although the passed time appears to be a bit absurd.

[torsionbar28]

This bug is old enough to buy beer!

[caligula]

"Modern" languages from the 1970s with algebraic types completely eliminate these sorts of errors. It's a sad story.

[anarki2]

Manyeyeballs.

[cl333r]

They use C instead of Rust, so no wonder they have pointer related bugs.

[efikkan]

They use C instead of Rust, so no wonder they have pointer related bugs.

Because a different language stops people from writing bad code, yeah right…

[pmorph]

A bug no code bad makes.

[FishPls]

Because a different language stops people from writing bad code, yeah right…

Well, it would've most likely prevented this particular null dereference bug, it's the first thing discussed in this article: http://www.garin.io/rust-vs-c-pitfalls

[efikkan]

Well, it would've most likely prevented this particular null dereference bug, it's the first thing discussed in this article: http://www.garin.io/rust-vs-c-pitfalls

Writing real code should be hard, because it's handling of powerful tools. When we lower the bar for writing code we are just getting more bad code. Anyone choosing a different language in order to disregard a basic programming principle will most definitely write worse code as a result.

Understanding memory is essential for writing good code. Any abstraction of this is just going to result in bad habits. More than two decades of languages like Java, C#, etc. has proven this, and has resulted in loads of unstable applications riddled with memory problems. No amount of design patterns can ever help someone who doesn't understand what they're trying to do. If you can't handle memory management, then you need to find something else to do.

Speaking of Rust, it puts wrappers around everything including pointers and datatypes, which prevents efficient code in the first place. It even attempts to keep track of all references, in runtime. The level of bloat is impressive. The blog you've linked to even claims the language is 100% safe, but it's outside the realm of possibility for any compiler to guarantee this. This is another example of someone stating they are new to a thing, and yet they are trying to teach others how to use it…
And no, rewriting it in Rust will not eliminate memory problems.