Re: GLIB for a webserver

[Allin Cottrell <cottrell wfu edu>]

On Fri, 9 Dec 2011, Chris Vine wrote:

> On Thu, 8 Dec 2011 11:13:41 -0200
> Marcelo Elias Del Valle - SYSMAP SOLUTIONS - Claro MA-SP -
> <Marcelo Valle claro com br> wrote:
> > - In some forums, people were complaining about the fact glib aborts
> > when memory allocation fails, which is bad for a 24/7 running web
> > server.
>
> This particular criticism has little going for it.  Modern operating
> systems use swap and memory over-commit, and there is pretty well
> nothing you can do once memory is exhausted, particularly if you are a
> long way up the call stack. [...]

But still, a sane (or sanely configured) OS can tell when it 
receives a huge request for memory that it definitely cannot honor. 
In that case -- where memory is not currently exhausted -- it's much 
preferable if the app can report "Can't do it" to the user rather 
than aborting.

Allin Cottrell