Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary |
Matthiaspaul (talk | contribs) →Usage: +ref |
||
Line 108:
* Hiding of code to prevent [[reverse engineering]] (by use of a [[disassembler]] or [[debugger]]) or to evade detection by virus/spyware scanning software and the like.
* Filling 100% of memory (in some architectures) with a rolling pattern of repeating [[opcodes]], to erase all programs and data, or to [[burn-in]] hardware or perform [[RAM test]]s.<ref name="Wilkinson_1996"/>
* [[Executable compression|Compressing]] code to be decompressed and executed at runtime, e.g., when memory or disk space is limited.<ref name="Caldera_1997_DOSSRC"/><ref name="Paul_1997_OD-A3"/>
* Some very limited [[instruction set]]s leave no option but to use self-modifying code to perform certain functions. For example, a [[one instruction set computer]] (OISC) machine that uses only the subtract-and-branch-if-negative "instruction" cannot do an indirect copy (something like the equivalent of "*a = **b" in the [[C (programming language)|C language]]) without using self-modifying code.
* [[Booting]]. Early [[microcomputer]]s often used self-modifying code in their bootloaders. Since the bootloader was keyed in via the front panel at every power-on, it did not matter if the [[bootloader]] modified itself. However, even today many bootstrap loaders are [[self-relocating]], and a few are even self-modifying.<ref group="nb" name="NB_DR-DOS_707"/>
| |||