running same script on same data on two different machines --> different result

[Christopher Brewster]

On Nov 14, 3:22 pm, Steve Holden <st... at holdenweb.com> wrote:
> Christopher Brewster wrote:
> > I am running the same script on the same data on two different
> > machines (the folder is synchronised with Dropbox).
> > I get two different results. All the script does is count words in
> > different files and perform a simple set operation on the word lists.
> > The laptop is a Macbook Pro (2 1/2 years old) running OS X 10.5.5 with
> > Python 2.5.1
> > The desktop is an iMac (brand new) running OS X 10.5.5 also with
> > Python 2.5.1
>
> > I have tried running the script on an ubuntu server with Python 2.5.2
> > and the results corresponded with my laptop's output.
> > How can I find out the cause of this anomaly? What tests can I
> > perform?
>
> OK, as a university denizen you are presumably a smart type. Do you
> *really* think this is an adequate problem description for debugging?
>
> You might drop lucky, but more information couldn't possibly hurt. We
> *try* to be mindreaders, but it would help to know whether you are
> talking about string handling or floating-point computations, for example.
>
> If the latter then it's probably because one machine is based on PowerPC
> architecture and the other is a more recent Intel-architecture Mac.
>
> regards
>  Steve
> --
> Steve Holden        +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
> Holden Web LLC              http://www.holdenweb.com/

Thanks for the suggestion but they are both Intel machines.
There is no floating point just simple additions.

No matter how smart you are, if you do not do this sort of thing
often,
you do not know exactly what sort of information to provide or what
questions to ask.
So that is exactly my question - what are the right questions?
What information do I need to provide to try to solve this?

Christopher