Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

How is a "limit to how much memory [one] can address" not a physical, rather than logical, constraint?

Really, the crux of the matter is that you can have a function call itself an unbounded number of times in C (i.e. unbounded recursion). That you eventually run into a stack overflow is a limitation of the machine, not of the language; the definition of C does not prescribe a maximum number of recursive calls. This, together with conditionals, makes the C language Turing-complete.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: