fandango on core

Fandango on core is a computer programming term for the effects of a pointer running out of bounds, often leading to a core dump, or failures in other seemingly-unrelated processes. In extreme situations, fandango on core may lead to the overwriting of operating system code, possibly causing data loss or system crashes. The advent of protected memory means that while a program cannot overwrite the memory of other programs, a loose pointer can still cause strange behaviour within the application.
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<jargon, programming> (Unix/C, from the Mexican dance) In C, a wild pointer that runs out of bounds, causing a core dump, or corrupts the malloc arena in such a way as to cause mysterious failures later on, is sometimes said to have "done a fandango on core". On low-end personal machines without an MMU, this can corrupt the operating system itself, causing massive lossage. Other frenetic dances such as the rhumba, cha-cha, or watusi, may be substituted.
See aliasing bug, precedence lossage, smash the stack, memory leak, memory smash, overrun screw, core.
[Jargon File]
(1994-12-16)