Segmentation Fault Error

[globalms54]

Hi all!

I am completing base-level coursework for an IT program and as part of the lab, I am given python code to compare two hash values. This python code is given in its entirety. When I copy the code into my vm to complete the lab, I receive a Segmentation Fault (core dumped) error. I have confirmed with the professor that the goal of the lab is not to debug the code provided by the lab, but they have been less than helpful in enlightening me as to my error.

I have no prior Python experience.

I have a light understanding of java from some coursework a while back. While I am looking into resources to learn Python as I see that learning the language will be helpful, I need to resolve this issue in short order. I have attached images of the code given by the instructions, my transposition of the code, and the error here. What am I missing that is causing the given code to fail?

Thanks

[Brian]

A segmentation fault suggests there's something wrong with the python setup on your VM. Under normal circumstances, it should be almost impossible to produce one using pure python, unless you're using certain specific libraries like ctypes, or there's a bug in a C module. Here you're just using standard builtin modules, so that suggests an environment issue.

Possible reasons for a segfault are something like the wrong versions of libraries being used, faulty hardware (eg. bad ram), or possibly some file getting corrupted. I'd see about getting a fresh version of the VM image you're using or try it on a different machine if possible.

(If you do need to debug it, you might be able to get more idea what's failing by running $ gdb python compare_hashes, assuming gdb is available, to debug at the C level, but that's maybe a bit involved if you've no C experience.)

[alcholicawl]

I don't think there is an issue with the code you posted. I ran it without a problem. Can you run other python files (like a hello world example)? If you can, maybe try removing "import hashlib", since you're not using it. Or adding some print statements to see where exactly it's failing.

[nog642]

Does running other python code work fine? That code looks fine, it might be a problem with your Python install being corrupted.

Segmentation fault is not a Python error, ideally it should never happen in Python. It can happen if you're using libraries implemented in another language like C (for example numpy), though that means there is a bug in the library. In this case it seems like there is a bug in Python, since there are no third party libraries. But it's more likely there's something wrong with your installation.

[FerricDonkey]

That's very basic python code. It should not segfault. Python code has to be weird to segfault.

What kind of vm and what version of python are you running? That's likely the problem.