Editing Pointer (computer programming) (section)

====Wild branch====
Where a pointer is used as the address of the entry point to a program or start of a [[subroutine|function which doesn't return anything]] and is also either uninitialized or corrupted, if a call or [[unconditional branch|jump]] is nevertheless made to this address, a "[[wild branch]]" is said to have occurred. In other words, a wild branch is a function pointer that is wild (dangling).

The consequences are usually unpredictable and the error may present itself in several different ways depending upon whether or not the pointer is a "valid" address and whether or not there is (coincidentally) a valid instruction (opcode) at that address. The detection of a wild branch can present one of the most difficult and frustrating debugging exercises since much of the evidence may already have been destroyed beforehand or by execution of one or more inappropriate instructions at the branch location. If available, an [[instruction set simulator]] can usually not only detect a wild branch before it takes effect, but also provide a complete or partial trace of its history.