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aliasing bug: n. A class of subtle programming errors that can arise in code that
does dynamic allocation, esp. via
malloc(3)
or equivalent. If several pointers address (are aliases for) a given hunk of storage, it may
happen that the storage is freed or reallocated (and thus moved) through
one alias and then referenced through another, which may lead to subtle
(and possibly intermittent) lossage depending on the state and the
allocation history of the malloc arena. Avoidable
by use of allocation strategies that never alias allocated core, or by use
of higher-level languages, such as LISP, which
employ a garbage collector (see GC). Also called a
stale pointer bug. See also
precedence lossage,
smash the stack,
fandango on core,
memory leak,
memory smash,
overrun screw, spam. Historical note: Though this term is nowadays associated with C
programming, it was already in use in a very similar sense in the Algol-60
and FORTRAN communities in the 1960s.
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