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Consider a scenario where you're editing a function:

  function foo() { return a*2.1^2+0.52/2 }
So you do a find-all regex "1.*5" and delete all matching occurrences (à la CRISPER) to get:

  function foo() { return a*2.2/2 }
But unbeknownst to you, the code is littered with a bunch of commented out versions of the same function you're trying to edit:

  /* function foo() { return a*1.5/2.1 } */
  /* function foo() { return a*1.95/2.4 } */
And now those commented out versions now become:

  /* function foo() { return a*/2.1 } */
  /* function foo() { return a*/2.4 } */
And now the whole program doesn't compile anymore--or your patients get Leukemia. Oops.



Excellent point. But it works for bacteria I guess, because viral dna is small.


And when it doesn't work... well, bacteria die all the time. Humans are less tolerant of random death.


So good, thanks for resurfacing this one!




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