🚀 go-pugleaf

Thanks all, I have now received info on acquiring standards.

From email I have received there appears to be a misunderstanding with my Q:
>Do any bodies, other than the British Standards Institute, perform validation
>of compilers?  Which PC (MS-DOS) or Amiga products have passed such validation?

I want to know about ANSI/ISO std conformance testing, tested products.  Some
people mentioned the Plum Hall validation suite  -  this is not of interest to
me.  PH may well be a useful test, but it only checks that a compiler accepts
the PH files & gives an output that runs correctly.  This seems to be a
drastically inadequate test for std compliance, my understanding is that:
1   It is only applicable to compilers that include a complete ANSI library,
    often not the case when targetting embedded systems, ...
2   It does not check that system constants (#define's) and function prototypes
    are in the correct header files, ...
3   It does not ensure that the compiler defaults to ANSI compliant mode, with
    language extensions being available only as an option.
4   It does not prevent tampering with the input (PH) files to get the desired
    output.
5   It does not reject compilers that accept invalid operations or illegal
    syntax.
6   It does not test typesafe linkage, where implemented :-)
7   ... other tests requiring impartial checking of compile or link errors, or
    inspection of development specification.

In my very humble opinion, claiming PH compliance for a compiler is like
saying a container is decorated with lead free paint, it tells me a criteria
that it meets - it does not tell me whether it will correctly compile any of
my code.  And when I'm targettng embedded systems, or storing ferric chloride,
the criteria may be entirely irrelevant to my application.

Regards,
-- 
Anthony Naggs                    |  MAN I say what it occurs to me to say when
Janet:    amn@uk.ac.brighton.vms |      I think I hear people say things.
    or    xa329@uk.ac.city       |      More I cannot say.
Internet: amn@vms.brighton.ac.uk |
       or xa329@city.ac.uk)      |  (from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy)