ack/doc/pascal/test.doc

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1991-11-01 09:43:36 +00:00
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Testing the compiler
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Although it is practically impossible to prove the correctness of a compiler,
a systematic method of testing the compiler is used to increase the confidence
that it will work satisfactorily in practice. The first step was to see if
the lexical analysis was performed correctly. For this purpose, the routine
LexScan() was used (see also the \-l option). Next we tested the parser
generated by LLgen, to see whether correct Pascal programs were accepted and
garbage was dealed with gracefully. The biggest test involved was the
validation of the semantic analysis. Simultaneously we tested the code
generation. First some small Pascal test programs were translated and
executed. When these programs work correctly, the Pascal validation suite
and a large set of Pascal test programs were compiled to see whether they
behaved in the manner the standard specifies. For more details about the
Pascal validation suite, the reader is referred to [PCV].