jm December 5th, 2006
So, on page 224, in a note, I wrote:
You might see type conversions referred to as "type coercions" in programming-language literature; the terms are synonymous.
Well, I guess you can tell I got my CS degree from a public school. So, there’s two types of type conversions: explicit type conversions and implicit type conversions. Explicit ones are ones that the programmer explicitly invokes, via type-casts. Implicit conversions are the ones that the compiler does behind the scenes to make everything work. "Type coercions" are the implicit type conversions, not the explicit ones, so the above statement is wrong. While it’s rather fun being wrong while stating things authoritatively, I really hope they don’t revoke my ACM privileges. I still haven’t used my free kill.
jm December 3rd, 2006
You might have noticed that Michal Zalewski was one of the most referenced researchers in our book, since he’s basically published something cool with just about every technology we cover. Unfortunately, you also might have noticed that we refer to him throughout the book as Michael Zalewski. Crap. We’re sorry Michal.
In recompense, we’ll now refer to all badass “Michaels” in security as “Michal.” Our apologies in advance to Michal Howard.
justin December 2nd, 2006
Well, we finally got a site up to, ostensibly, promote the book. Though, the truth is that it’s more of a venue for Mark, John, and I to make noise and engage in shameless self-promotion. Assuming that isn’t distracting enough, you can always notify us of errors in the book by submitting comments to the Book Errata link on the menu bar. Just please, scan the current errata first so we can avoid redundant posts; we’ll circle back around later and add any confirmed entries to the errata list.
Beyond the errata, none of us are too sure about what posting frequency to expect. However, I’m sure at least one of us will occasionally get motivated and post about the goings on in the security community, or in John’s case, about how much he likes puppies.
