CompuServe Messages

We do extensively internal (alpha) testing, as well as outside (beta) testing. Our internal tests consist of: running stress-test type suites, such as Plum Hall's stuff. recompiling _everything_ with the new compiler, including itself (called bootstrapping). running as much PD and shareware example code as we can find thorugh the compiler. Compiling files with previously fixed bugs, to insure we don't break something we already fixed. After that's done, we release the compiler to our beta testers, who (hopefully) bang on it for a significant amount of time. Despite all this, bugs _do_ slip through, for the simple reason that a compiler system (including assembler, linker, libraries, etc.) is massively complex, and humans are prone to errors. I can say that the bug-rates in SAS C and Aztec C are well within 'Industry Norms' for such things – similar numbers of bugs crop up in PC C compilers, Mainframe compilers, etc. etc. The best we can do is to find bugs and fix them as quickly as possible, and to do what we can to insure that products are tested as much as possible before release. -Mike