libjava Testing (was Re: [PATCH] [MinGW]: Reset/Ignore Thread Interruption for Plain[Datagram]SocketImpl)

[Mohan Embar <gnustuff at thisiscool dot com>]

Hi Bryce,

>Jacks = generic compiler test suite. language-lawyer stuff. Tests 
>language features and stresses parser, semantic analysis etc. Tests 
>compilation, not class libraries.

>Mauve = generic java class library test suite, organized hierarchically 
>by packages & classes.

>libjava/testsuite = GCJ-specific tests. Mostly tests for regressions 
>for specific bugs that have been found in gcj/libgcj. Includes both 
>compiler and runtime tests. Good place to put a "quick and dirty" 
>regression test for a patch, but more extensive test cases should go 
>into mauve.

Thanks, this is really useful. For once, I understand the difference between
Mauve and libjava/testsuite. I admit I could have looked into this more,
but on Win32, the activation energy is higher.

A couple of outstanding questions:

- How does one typically "certify" a patch? Do they run the testsuites
  before and after the patch and then compare the number of successes
  and failures?

- How does one run Jacks?

It would be cool to have a step-by-step guide for libjava testing similar
to this ("after you've coded your patch, do this, this and this"):

http://gcc.gnu.org/cvswrite.html

Thanks for indulging me. I'm cashing in one of my
could-have-figured-this-out-myself chips.

-- Mohan
http://www.thisiscool.com/
http://www.animalsong.org/