Solid Sands advances C23 and C++23 compiler verification with SuperTest Van Gogh 6.0
Solid Sands B.V., the provider of testing and qualification technology for compilers and libraries, has launched SuperTest Van Gogh 6.0, a major update to its SuperTest Compiler Test and Validation Suite, adding more than 1,900 handcrafted tests and significantly extending support for the latest C and C++ language standards.
SuperTest Van Gogh 6.0 completes testing of C++20 language features with the addition of 173 tests for modules, one of the standard’s most complex additions. The release also introduces 440 tests specifically for C++23 and 480 new tests for C23, alongside extensions elsewhere in the test suite.
The new C23 coverage supports more than 40 standard committee papers, including language extensions such as true and false, constexpr and {} initialization, as well as new C23 library features. For C++23, SuperTest now supports all language features covered by some 45 standard committee papers, including deducing this, multidimensional subscripts, the size_t suffix (z), UTF-8 support and if consteval.
Marcel Beemster, CTO of Solid Sands, commented: “Adding a new feature to a language standard, implementing it in a compiler and verifying that implementation are closely interconnected. For complex features, maturity takes time. C++20 modules are a good example: the feature is complex to implement, and comprehensive support across mainstream compilers has taken several years to develop. The current state of compiler implementations has now allowed us to create a comprehensive test suite for modules.”
Testing by Solid Sands demonstrates why independent verification remains important as new language features mature. Each of the three mainstream compiler platforms tested – GCC, Clang and MSVC – currently fails approximately 20% of SuperTest’s 173 tests for C++20 modules. Rather than indicating that these compilers are unsuitable, the results provide developers and compiler teams with objective information about implementation maturity and help identify areas requiring further refinement.
SuperTest Van Gogh 6.0 also extends support for the C++ <algorithm> and <functional> headers and adds tests for Unicode characters in source files. Existing test suites for earlier versions of C and C++ continue to be maintained and refined.
Marcel Beemster adds: “The important question for compiler users is which new language features they can confidently use while maintaining reliable implementation and portability across platforms. SuperTest Van Gogh 6.0 gives developers working on mission- and safety-critical applications the evidence they need to make that assessment, while allowing them to take advantage of newer C and C++ language features.”
Following Solid Sands’ tradition of naming major SuperTest releases after Dutch painters, version 6.0 takes its name from Vincent van Gogh. The name reflects Solid Sands’ ambition for SuperTest to be distinctive, recognizable and built to leave a lasting impression, just as Van Gogh’s work developed an unmistakable identity.
For more information about SuperTest, visit www.solidsands.nl
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