Wild Branch
Where a pointer is used as the address of the entry point to a program or start of a subroutine and is also either uninitialized or corrupted, if a call or jump is nevertheless made to this address, a "wild branch" is said to have occurred. The consequences are usually unpredictable and the error may present itself in several different ways depending upon whether or not the pointer is a "valid" address and whether or not there is (coincidentally) a valid instruction (opcode) at that address. The detection of a wild branch can present one of the most difficult and frustrating debugging exercises since much of the evidence may already have been destroyed beforehand or by execution of one or more inappropriate instructions at the branch location. If available, an instruction set simulator can usually not only detect a wild branch before it takes effect, but also provide a complete or partial trace of its history.
Read more about this topic: Pointer (computer Programming)
Famous quotes containing the words wild and/or branch:
“I must down to the seas again for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied.”
—John Masefield (18741967)
“That mans the true Conservative
Who lops the mouldered branch away.”
—Alfred Tennyson (18091892)