Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.lang.c > #18820

Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations

Show all headers | View raw

On Sunday, March 11, 2012 6:27:38 AM UTC-5, pozz wrote:
> We perfectly know that C implementations can be very different in terms of:
> - number of bits per byte
> - number of bytes per int
> - number of bytes per long
> - signed or unsigned char
> - negative number implementation (two's or one's complement)
> - big or little endian or others
> 
> I'm asking if there's a way to test a small C source (a function or a 
> small set of functions) against all possible C implementations.  Of 
> course I'm thinking of an automatic test, because the number of C 
> implementations is high.
> 
> I think this could be done with an ad-hoc C compiler that can be 
> configured (I imagine thorugh command-line parameteres) in several ways. 
>   For example, I can say to the compiler to use signed or unsigned char 
> (when the signedness is not specified), 16-bit ints and 32-bit longs, 
> big-ending representation, two's complement for negative numbers.
> 
> So I can write a small script that runs the compiler several times with 
> different configurations, producing different executables.  Now I can 
> run these exe and compare the results (their outputs) against "the 
> correct output" I prepared before.
> 
> I think this test could be very useful to verify the correctness of our 
> sources not only against the implementation where we are developing, but 
> also for other possible implementations that could be used in the future 
> by the users of our program.

Should be possible if you have all possible C compilers available.  That will also mean having most types of computers they can run on.

There are many variations that do not reduce to simple numbers.

Back to comp.lang.c | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

Method to test a program against different C implementations pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2012-03-11 12:27 +0100
  Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations "Joachim Schmitz" <nospam.jojo@schmitz-digital.de> - 2012-03-11 13:48 +0100
    Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations pete <pfiland@mindspring.com> - 2012-03-11 09:03 -0500
      Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-03-11 10:43 -0400
  Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-03-11 09:08 -0400
    Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2012-03-11 22:12 +0100
      Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-03-11 17:44 -0400
  Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-11 09:39 -0700
  Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2012-03-15 22:09 +0000
    Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-03-15 18:32 -0400
      Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2012-03-17 16:26 +0100
        Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-03-17 11:52 -0400
    Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-03-15 20:31 -0400
      Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2012-03-20 22:18 +0000
        Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-03-20 22:38 -0400
          Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2012-03-22 21:48 +0000
            Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-03-22 18:39 -0400
            Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-03-22 21:07 -0400
  Re: Method to test a program against different C implementations Robert Miles <robertmilesxyz@gmail.com> - 2012-03-15 17:41 -0700

csiph-web