Ada Compiler Evalutation System(ACES)
A New DACS Product
The Ada Compiler Evaluation System (ACES), Version 1.0, is now available from the DACS. The ACES is a merger of the Ada Compiler Evaluation Capability (U.S.) and the Ada Evaluation System (U.K.). The primary purpose of ACES is to determine performance and usability characteristics of Ada compilation systems. ACES consists of a Software Product, a User's Guide, a Reader's Guide, and a Version Description Document.
The ACES Software Product consists of performance test, assessor tools, and support software. The software product makes it possible to:
- Compare the performance of several implementations>
- Isolate a system's strong and weak points, relative to other tested
systems
- Determine significant changes made between releases of a compilation
system
- Predict performance of alternative coding styles
- Determine whether a symbolic debugger supports certain functional
capabilities
- Determine whether a program library supports certain functional
capabilities
- Determine certain compile-time and run-time capacities of a compilation
system
- Evaluate the clarity and accuracy of a system's diagnostic messages.
The basis of ACES is a set of performance tests and assessors, implemented in Ada. Performance tests measure compilation and execution speed and memory requirements. Assessor tools help to assess system capacities and the quality of symbolic debuggers, Ada program library systems, and diagnostic messages.
The support software is a set of tools that helps to prepare and execute the performance tests, extract data from result logs, and analyze the performance measurements. The support tools are:
- Harness -- customizes command scripts for running selected collections
of performance tests. Reads result logs and reports status of
performance tests.
- Include -- performs text inclusion into Ada source text, providing
flexibility in measurement techniques.
- Analysis Menu -- provides an interactive interface for the analysis
programs.
- Condense -- extracts measurement data from results logs for use by
analysis programs.
- Single System Analysis -- statistically compares results of tests with
similar effects. Determines effectiveness of optimization, performance
of alternative coding styles, and relative cost of language features.
- Comparative Analysis -- statistically compares performance test results
from various systems.
The ACES is available for $100 from the DACS. The ACES is available on a 6250 bpi 9-track VMS backup tape and is provided with accompanying documentation. The information package may be ordered by using the form found in this newsletter.
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