🚀 go-pugleaf

Submitted-by: jason@cnd.hp.com (Jason Zions)

>Where may I obtain information about certifying that my *application* is
>POSIX compliant?  I know about the NIST, X/Open and AT&T conformance suites, 
>but as I read about those, I surmise that they are geared to *operating system*
>compliance as opposed to application compliance.  Can someone assist me?

Ah, yes, the "POSIX Conforming Application" question.

This is a much tougher thing to test, although I seem to recall Mindcraft
talking about having a product that did this; the talk was back in April
1990 (the POSIX Snowbird meeting, anyway).

An application is said to strictly conform to 1003.1 if it uses only things
defined by that standard and the ones it relies on (e.g. ISO C). So, a test
suite would have to make sure that every time your application invokes
open() that you are using it in a way for which the standard defines
functionality. Recall that there are many times the standard is deliberately
silent on the way a conforming implementation behaves when an application
takes some action; if your application ever takes that action, it no longer
strictly conforms. For some interfaces (perhaps not open()), this checking
may be equivalent to the Stopping Problem; I suspect full verification of
application conformance is NP-Complete.

1003.2 will be even worse.

Jason


Volume-Number: Volume 30, Number 44