Question: I have often heard that C can crash spectacularly. Recently I got my first taste of this when a function I expected to return a string instead returned little happy faces. Since then I have been being more careful with initializing pointers and mallocing memory for arrays. Still, though, I have trouble believing that a program could crash THAT badly...

I guess it would depend on the scope of the program though? I mean, if a bug in a program that dealt with your fan copied happy faces into some important space in memory...?

My question is, how much myth is there in the world of spectacular C crashes? Can I get some concrete examples of dangerous things that one ought to avoid?

z.

Answer: 
Back in the DOS days I actually over-wrote bios information. Had to get a tech to fix it. My first home computer - 286. Unbootable after a day or two.
If the software in question is running on a PC, it may "merely" bring down your computer.

If, however, it's controlling the operation of the engine in your car -- or worse, the ABS -- it won't just be the software that crashes...