[Python-Dev] Issue #8863 adds a new?PYTHONNOFAULTHANDLER?environment variable (original) (raw)

Alexander Belopolsky alexander.belopolsky at gmail.com
Mon Dec 20 18:22:48 CET 2010

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 11:56 AM, Stefan Krah <stefan at bytereef.org> wrote:

Victor Stinner <vstinner at edenwall.com> wrote: ..

The fault handler helps developers because they don't have to have a Python compiled in debug mode and to run the application in a debugger (like gdb).

If the developer is unable to reproduce an error, because it's an Heisenbug, or because the developer doesn't have the same OS, libraries and/or applications, the fault handler helps the developer to isolate the problem. This is what I'm sceptical about. I think the tracebacks are don't carry enough information for that.

My concern is that the traceback generated by a signal handler may actually contain less information that what would otherwise be available from the core dump or other system diagnostic facilities. Whenever you continue to execute code after a fault occurs (even in an alternative stack), you change register values and run the risk that the program will not be able to produce a core dump at all or will produce a core dump with misleading information in it.

I think Stefan's approach is the correct one: before we agree on this feature, the proponents should present actual crashers for which reports generated by the patch are actually helpful.

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