Do arrays get put into the activation stack instance? - stack

Would the ARI for main just have local variable a as 1 spot and local b as one spot or would local b have 3 spots?
would the parameters for Procedure X have 1 spot for var c and 3 spots for var d?

Related

Picking a chosen amount of things from a table without repetition

So I'm currently working on a little side project, so this is my first time learning LUA and I'm currently stuck. So what I'm trying to do is create a function that will randomly choose two numbers between 1 and 5 and make it so they can not collide with the player. I can not seem to get the ability to chose two numbers at random without them being the same. I've been looking around, but have not been able to find a clear answer. Any help would be much appreciated!
My code so far:
local function RandomChoice1()
local t = {workspace.Guess1.CB1,workspace.Guess1.CB2,workspace.Guess1.CB3,workspace.Guess1.CB4,workspace.Guess1.CB5}
local i = math.random(1,5)
end
If you need to select one with probability 20% (one from 1..5 range) and the second one with probability 25% (one from 1..5 range minus the first choice), then something like this should work:
local i1 = math.random(1,5) -- pick one at random from 1..5 interval
-- shift the interval up to account for the selected item
local i2 = math.random(2,5) -- pick one at random from 2..5 interval
-- assign 1 in case of a collision
if i2 == i1, then i2 = 1 end
This will guarantee the numbers not being equal and satisfying your criteria.
Instead of generating i2 you can generate difference i2 - i1
local i1 = math.random(5) -- pick one at random from 1..5 interval
local diff = math.random(4) -- pick one at random from 1..4 interval
local i2 = (i1 + diff - 1) % 5 + 1 -- from 1..5 interval, different from i1
print(i1, i2)
You could use recursion. Save the previous number and if it's the same just generate a new one until its not the same. This way you are garaunteed to never have the same number twice.
local i = 0;
function ran(min,max)
local a = math.random(min,max);
if (a == i) then
return ran(min,max);
else
i = a;
return a;
end
end
Example: "2 from 5" without doubles...
local t = {}
for i = 1, 5 do
t[i] = i
end
-- From now a simple table.remove()...
-- ( table.remove() returns the value of removed key/value pair )
-- ...on a random key avoids doubles
for i = 1, 2 do
print(table.remove(t, math.random(#t)))
end
Example output...
1
4

hypothesis function space in decision tree

I am reading the book "Artificial Intelligence" by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig (Chapter 18). The following paragraph is from the decision trees context.
For a wide variety of problems, the decision tree format yields a
nice, concise result. But some functions cannot be represented
concisely. For example, the majority function, which returns true if
and only if more than half of the inputs are true, requires an
exponentially large decision tree.
In other words, decision trees are good for some kinds of functions
and bad for others. Is there any kind of representation that is
efficient for all kinds of functions? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
We can show this in a general way. Consider the set of all Boolean
functions on "n" attributes. How many different functions are in this
set? This is just the number of different truth tables that we can
write down, because the function is defined by its truth table.
A truth table over "n" attributes has 2^n rows, one for each
combination of values of the attributes.
We can consider the “answer” column of the table as a 2^n-bit number
that defines the function. That means there are (2^(2^n)) different
functions (and there will be more than that number of trees, since
more than one tree can compute the same function). This is a scary
number. For example, with just the ten Boolean attributes of our
restaurant problem there are 2^1024 or about 10^308 different
functions to choose from.
What does author mean by "answer" column of the table as a 2^n-bit number that defines the function?
How did author derive (2^(2^n)) different functions?
Please elaborate on above question, preferably with simple example, such as n = 3.
Consider a general truth table for a 3-input function, where the result for each triple is also a Boolean (1 or 0), represented by variables i through 'p':
A B C f(a,b,c)
0 0 0 i
0 0 1 j
0 1 0 k
0 1 1 l
1 0 0 m
1 0 1 n
1 1 0 o
1 1 1 p
We can now represent any function on three variables as an 8-bit number, ijklmnop. For instance, and is 00000001; or is 01111111; one_hot (exactly one input True) is 01101000.
For 3 variables, you have 2^3 bits in the "answer", the complete function definition. Since there are 8 bits in the "answer", there are 2^8 possible functions we can define.
Does that outline the field of comprehension for you?
More detail on an example function
You simply (once you see the pattern) make the eight bits correspond to the entires in the table. For instance, the table for one-hot looks like this:
A B C f(a,b,c)
0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1
0 1 0 1
0 1 1 0
1 0 0 1
1 0 1 0
1 1 0 0
1 1 1 0
Reading down the "answer" column, labeled f(a,b,c), you get the 8-bit sequence 01101000. That 8-bit number is sufficient to completely define the function: the rows listing all the combinations of a, b, c are in a fixed (numerical) sequence.
You can write any such function in a template format:
def and(a, b, c):
and_def = '00000001'
index = 4*a + 2*b + 1*c
return and_def[index]
Now, if we generalize this to any 3-input binary function:
def_bin_func(a, b, c, func_def)
return func_def[4*a + 2*b + 1*c]
If you wish, you can further generalize the template for a list of inputs: concatenate the bits and use that integer as the index into the func_def string.
Does that clear it up?

How does swapping of variable works in Lua?

In the below code, could anyone please explain how b,a = a,b internally works?
-- Variable definition:
local a, b
-- Initialization
a = 10
b = 30
print("value of a:", a)
print("value of b:", b)
-- Swapping of variables
b, a = a, b
print("value of a:", a)
print("value of b:", b)
Consider the Lua script:
local a, b
a = 10
b = 30
b, a = a, b
Run luac -l on it and you'll get this:
1 [1] LOADNIL 0 1
2 [2] LOADK 0 -1 ; 10
3 [3] LOADK 1 -2 ; 30
4 [4] MOVE 2 0
5 [4] MOVE 0 1
6 [4] MOVE 1 2
7 [4] RETURN 0 1
These are the instructions of the Lua VM for the given script. The local variables are assigned to registers 0 and 1 and then register 2 is used for the swap, much like you'd do manually using a temporary variable. In fact, the Lua script below generates exactly the same VM code:
local a, b
a = 10
b = 30
local c=a; a=b; b=c
The only difference is that the compiler would reuse register 2 in the first case if the script was longer and more complex.
I assume that by internally you don't mean Lua C code?
Basically, in multiple assignment Lua always evaluates all expressions on the right hand side of the assignment before performing the assigment.
So if you use your variables on both side of the assigment, you can be sure that:
local x, y = 5, 10
x, y = doSomeCalc(y), doSomeCalc(x) --x and y retain their original values for both operations, before the assignment is made

How is the run time stack maintained after a buffer is injected with malicious code?

I was reading the following paper on buffer overflow : http://www1.telhai.ac.il/sources/private/academic/cs/557/2659/Materials/Smashing.pdf
According to the examples in the paper, the attacker injects code in the buffer which is overflowed and modifies the return address to point to the address of the buffer. Since, the injected code and the local variables both lie on the stack , shouldn't the attacker make sure that she/he has left enough space for local variables before overflowing the buffer with the code? In broad sense, I m confused how stack would be maintained when both the code and local variables are there on the stack ....are there chances of local variables overwriting the injected code ???
One solution is to not use any local variables. This isn't necessarily a big constraint on code that is going to be small and do its work by calling into something else anyway. (Very relative on saying its not a big constraint, it's beyond me tbh but since this isn't the easiest code to write, its not a big constraint in that context).
That's not even necessary though. A stack will look something like:
Function A Arg 2
Function A Arg 1
Function A Arg 0
Return Address into caller
Function A Local 1
Function A Local 0
Function B Arg 1
Function B Arg 0
Return Address into place in Function A's executable code.
Function B Local 2
Function B Local 1
Function B Local 0
Function C Arg 0
Return Address into place in Function B's executable code.
Function C Local 3
Function C Local 2
Function C Local 1
Function C Local 0
...
A buffer overflow tricks it into looking like:
Function A Arg 2
Function A Arg 1
Function A Arg 0
Return Address into caller
Function A Local 1
NastyCode bytes 0-3
NastyCode bytes 4-7
NastyCode bytes 8-B
NastyCode bytes C-E
NastyCode bytes F-10
NastyCode bytes 10-13
NastyCode bytes 14-17
NastyCode bytes 18-1B
NastyCode bytes 1F-20
...
NastyCode arg 0 (etc.)
Return Address (of NastyCode [may not even be valid, may return to original caller, or may jump into something it'll set up]).
NastyCode Local 2
NastyCode Local 1
NastyCode Local 0
Return Address (should be of Function F, into a point in Function E but it's changed to point to byte 0 of NastyCode)
Function F Local 2
Function F Local 1
Function F Local 0
So the executable code written into the stack can be away from the local varaibles of that code.

Function recursion, what happens in the SAS?

I have this scenario: a recursive procedure (or function) is called like
{DoSomething Data C}
and C is the variable that should store the final result, the function prototype is
proc {DoSomething Data N}
%..
%..
{DoSomething Data M}
N = 1 + M
end
and N is the variable that should store the final result too but in the local scope of the procedure.
Now it was told to me that at first, when the procedure is called, the SAS is:
Notice equivalence sets between C and N (both unbound for the moment)
then after all recursions have been completed, the SAS is
notice that both C and N are bound to a value (6)
After exiting the procedure the SAS is left with
because you destroy the N variable. And that's fine.
My question is: what happens during the procedure recursions? Does the C variable link to a partial value structure 1 + M ? And then next time M links to 1 + M2 ?
No, there are no partial structures in Oz, as long as we talk about simple integer arithmetics.
This statement:
N = 1 + M
will block until M is fully determined, i.e. is bound to an integer.
To really understand what is going on, I would have to see the full code.
But I assume that there is a base case that returns a concrete value. Once the base case is reached, the recursion will "bubble up", adding 1 to the result of the inner call.
In other words, the binding of C will only change at the end of the outermost procedure call, where M is 5 and C is therefore bound to 6.

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