04-21-2003, 12:10 AM
fact miss a joke. 
However, you've got things a tad jumbled up. Whether or not you see only standard text characters when you look at an executable (or some other binary file) with a text editor depends on the text editor you're using. And just because your text editor may show sequences of bytes that can be interpreted as machine code doesn't necessarily mean that it *is* machine code. But if that sequence is in fact interpretable as machine code, that sequence is in fact executable in and of itself. I think the real point there is that there's no guaranty that a sequence of non-textual bytes is in fact machine code. ("Machine code" and "non-text character sequences" aren't synonyms.) An executable file (unless it's a .BAT file) is anything but a text file. (Strictly, a text file generally contains *only* characters with ascii values between 32 and 127, except for possibly an ascii 9 (tab), an ascii 26 (end of file), and ascii 13 and 10 values--and those ascii 13 and 10 values have very strict interpretations. They indicate the end of a line, and only that. The same goes for the ascii 26. It goes at the end of the file, if anywhere. A text file only has meaning when interpreted by a program, e.g., a text editor, designed to interpret text files.)
However, you've got things a tad jumbled up. Whether or not you see only standard text characters when you look at an executable (or some other binary file) with a text editor depends on the text editor you're using. And just because your text editor may show sequences of bytes that can be interpreted as machine code doesn't necessarily mean that it *is* machine code. But if that sequence is in fact interpretable as machine code, that sequence is in fact executable in and of itself. I think the real point there is that there's no guaranty that a sequence of non-textual bytes is in fact machine code. ("Machine code" and "non-text character sequences" aren't synonyms.) An executable file (unless it's a .BAT file) is anything but a text file. (Strictly, a text file generally contains *only* characters with ascii values between 32 and 127, except for possibly an ascii 9 (tab), an ascii 26 (end of file), and ascii 13 and 10 values--and those ascii 13 and 10 values have very strict interpretations. They indicate the end of a line, and only that. The same goes for the ascii 26. It goes at the end of the file, if anywhere. A text file only has meaning when interpreted by a program, e.g., a text editor, designed to interpret text files.)
ravelling Curmudgeon
(geocities sites require copying and pasting URLs.)
I liked spam better when it was something that came in a can.
Windows should be defenestrated.
(geocities sites require copying and pasting URLs.)
I liked spam better when it was something that came in a can.
Windows should be defenestrated.