interpreter crashes

[Peter Hansen]

Paul Rubin wrote:
> 
> A few times I've had Python 2.1.1 crash on me for no apparent reason.
[snip]
> How frequently does this type of thing happen?  If Python is in the habit
> of crashing randomly, that may make it inadvisable to write
> long-running servers that need to stay up.  Perhaps it's more
> appropriate to write servers Apache-style, forking new processes and
> reinitializing every so often.

Not necessary if your system is stable.  Python can run indefinitely
unless you have hit some obscure bug.  As a small trivial example 
of its stability, we have had our Intranet server running
under Zope (on Redhat 7.0) for the last 84 days straight, being
used daily and extensively by at least twenty people.  No troubles.

We are also developing applications based on Python which will
be expected to run potentially for years without being shut down ...
and I have no concerns about this (at least none related to Python! ;-).

-- 
----------------------
Peter Hansen, P.Eng.
peter at engcorp.com