Re: random debugging, What should I prepare for a PL PhD program

From	Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de>
Newsgroups	comp.compilers
Subject	Re: random debugging, What should I prepare for a PL PhD program
Date	2022-10-23 09:28 +0000
Organization	news.netcologne.de
Message-ID	<22-10-054@comp.compilers> (permalink)
References	(3 earlier) <22-10-036@comp.compilers> <22-10-039@comp.compilers> <22-10-040@comp.compilers> <22-10-042@comp.compilers> <22-10-049@comp.compilers>

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Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> schrieb:
> On 10/22/22 10:49 AM, Thomas Koenig wrote:
>
>> An automated code generator which generates valid programs according
>> to the syntax and semantics rules of a langauge and then systematically
>> violates the rules (especially those prescribed outside the formal
>> grammar) one by one might be possible.  Alternatively, it might
>> also be feasible to parse an existing code base and systematically
>> insert violations there.
>
> Isn't it good practice to maintain a test suite at least for compilers,
> that contains both selected valid and invalid code snippets?

Very much so.

For example, gcc requires two things for a patch:  There needs to
be a test case to make sure that the bug is fixed, or the added
feature keeps on working, and the submitter needs to run the
testsuite to make sure that all other tests continue to work.

This is a good approach, but it has the same basic limitations of
all testsuites:  They are never complete, and they also contain
compiler-specific code and also some errors.

> For error reports on obviously weird input I'd prepare an equally weird
> answer ;-)

If you have seen enough strange bug reports, it might be equally
challenging to come up with something new as to actually fix the
bug :-)

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Thread

What should I prepare for a PL PhD program Tianbo Hao <tianboh@alumni.cmu.edu> - 2022-10-18 14:52 +0800
  RE: What should I prepare for a PL PhD program "Nuno Lopes" <nuno.lopes@tecnico.ulisboa.pt> - 2022-10-19 09:30 +0100
    Re: What should I prepare for a PL PhD program Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2022-10-20 11:30 +0200
      Re: What should I prepare for a PL PhD program Spiros Bousbouras <spibou@gmail.com> - 2022-10-21 03:37 +0000
        Re: What should I prepare for a PL PhD program Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2022-10-21 21:32 +0000
          Re: random debugging, What should I prepare for a PL PhD program gah4 <gah4@u.washington.edu> - 2022-10-21 16:56 -0700
            Re: random debugging, What should I prepare for a PL PhD program Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2022-10-22 08:49 +0000
              Re: random debugging, What should I prepare for a PL PhD program Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2022-10-23 01:27 +0200
                Re: random debugging, What should I prepare for a PL PhD program gah4 <gah4@u.washington.edu> - 2022-10-23 00:00 -0700
                Re: random debugging, What should I prepare for a PL PhD program Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2022-10-23 09:28 +0000
  Re: What should I prepare for a PL PhD program gah4 <gah4@u.washington.edu> - 2022-10-19 01:33 -0700
  Re: What should I prepare for a PL PhD program anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2022-10-20 07:33 +0000

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