Ada Conformity Assessment Test Suite
The Ada Conformity Assessment Test Suite (ACATS) is a collection of test programs designed to ensure that a combination of Ada compiler, host, and target processor supports the language standard conformance-compliant. A combination called the Ada processor, which is the test, is called validated.
The preamble to the ACATS is as follows: Conformity assessment does not ensure that a processor has no nonconformities to the Ada standard other than those, if any, documented in this report. The compiler vendor declares that the tested processor contains no deliberate deviation from the Ada standard; a copy of this Declaration of Conformity is presented immediately after the certificate.
This means: "The manufacturer declares that the Ada processor does not deviate from the standard, but there may be deviations in the individual case."
The second paragraph provides a closer look at the effectiveness of the review: It is important to note the scope and intent of conformity assessment. The purpose of conformity assessment is to ensure that Ada processors achieve a high degree of conformity with the Ada standard (Ada95 as corrected by [TC1]). Characteristics such as performance and suitability for a particular application are not specified by the standard, and thus are outside the scope of Ada conformity assessment. Moreover, the ACATS is a set of test programs intended to check broadly for correct implementation; it is not possible to exhaustively test for conformity. Thus, conformity is checked only to the extent of these tests; processors that are certified as conforming may fail to conform to the standard in ways peculiar to each, under particular circumstances.
The second paragraph says: "The review is designed to ensure that Ada processors meet the language specification. The verification of whether the program can be used for a specific purpose is not the task of these tools. Also, a review can never be complete so that even a validated Ada processor may differ from the specification elsewhere. " Edit source text Weblinks Edit sourcetext Single-level Edit source text
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