From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 15601 invoked by alias); 20 Dec 2007 16:52:49 -0000 Received: (qmail 15592 invoked by uid 22791); 20 Dec 2007 16:52:48 -0000 X-Spam-Check-By: sourceware.org Received: from smtp-out.google.com (HELO smtp-out.google.com) (216.239.33.17) by sourceware.org (qpsmtpd/0.31) with ESMTP; Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:52:42 +0000 Received: from zps77.corp.google.com (zps77.corp.google.com [172.25.146.77]) by smtp-out.google.com with ESMTP id lBKGqZFx000825; Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:52:36 GMT Received: from smtp.corp.google.com (spacemonkey3.corp.google.com [192.168.120.116]) by zps77.corp.google.com with ESMTP id lBKGqYWu016795 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:52:34 -0800 Received: from localhost.localdomain.google.com (adsl-76-249-168-94.dsl.pltn13.sbcglobal.net [76.249.168.94]) (authenticated bits=0) by smtp.corp.google.com (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id lBKGqXG9003572 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:52:33 -0800 To: Alexandre Oliva Cc: gcc@gcc.gnu.org Subject: Re: Designs for better debug info in GCC References: <47388599.2040701@codesourcery.com> <4749DE66.1090602@codesourcery.com> <4756B02D.9010302@google.com> <4aca3dc20712151903r46c9eceane35edb92d08240ac@mail.gmail.com> <4aca3dc20712161712w1133fb96qd66be0e9a0bb1716@mail.gmail.com> <4766B8E5.60500@google.com> <4766DF5C.1020802@google.com> <47671BF4.5050704@google.com> From: Ian Lance Taylor Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:02:00 -0000 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-IsSubscribed: yes Mailing-List: contact gcc-help@gcc.gnu.org; run by ezmlm Precedence: bulk List-Id: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: Sender: gcc-owner@gcc.gnu.org X-SW-Source: 2007-12/txt/msg00632.txt.bz2 Alexandre Oliva writes: > > And it will avoid the problem of turning the testsuite into a > > regression testsuite rather than an accuracy testsuite. > > Sorry, I don't understand what you mean here. It's not a major point. When one adds a testsuite to working code, it is natural to write tests that expect to see what the code generates. The risk is that any change to the code causes the test to fail. This is the essence of a regression testsuite. For an example, see the linker testsuite in the binutils. Practically any change to the linker, correct or not, causes some tests to fail. An accuracy testsuite is one written independently of the code. It tests for the specific features that are desired, rather than testing for what the code currently does. Of course you can write an accuracy testsuite with working code. It's just much easier to write a regression testsuite, and it's easy to backslide into that. Ian