Recursion is a Harsh Mistress: How (Not) To Build a Recursive Internet Scanner

Recursion has a tendency to turn little bugs into explosive ones. In this talk, witness the myriad of strange and unexpected bugs we encountered while building BBOT, a recursive internet scanner. Rendered in smooth realtime animations, these bugs may appear fun and sometimes hilarious, but when they occurred they were extremely problematic, and taught us some valuable lessons about the internet and recursion.

Discover the nefarious traps and nightmarish edge cases that awaited us in the depths of the internet, the destruction they caused, the awkward situations they put us in, and the tricks we used to overcome them. Most importantly, discover the kinds of hidden gems recursion can uncover (when it's implemented properly), and the critical advantage it will give you in your recon!