[coyotos-dev] BigNum issues

[Thomas Stratmann]

Jonathan S. Shapiro schrieb:
> Okay. It's now pretty clear that the BigNum code needs a documentation
> and walk-through pass. We first need to make sure all of the assumptions
> are stated. Then we can check that they are honored.
> 
> I will try to start this tomorrow morning, but if this is only affecting
> 64-bit platforms it is not a priority yet.

Did you already start on this? If so, please let me know and disregard 
the rest of this mail.

During the past few days and as well some time earlier before the 
project migrated to Mercurial, I read through BigNum.cxx several times, 
spotting potential problems and most of the bugs that are fixed now.

You might have been wondering why I suddenly appeared and turned your 
attention to several spots in that file. Now you know why.

Having said that, I believe I now have a fairly good understanding of 
how your bignums work, and I am faithful that all big issues have been 
tackled during the past few days. (The problem with 64 bit numbers 
appearing in the headers should be an issue with the capability 
interface, not bignums)

However, I agree that documentation and wholehearted rereading is a good 
idea. For the reasons mentioned above, I think that is a job I could do 
well -- unless you consider it urgent, because I can only spare some 
hours in the evenings and weekends atm.

Please let me know what you think about that. If there are special 
documentation requirements or a desired shape (in preparation for later 
formal verification, fex?), let me know.

Anyway, I will synchronize with current upstream and compare with my 
local changes and notes before the beginning of the next week. Nothing 
shall be lost.

Thomas