Reactis for C

Reactis Tester employs a patented technology called guided simulation to build test suites. The tool tracks an array of coverage metrics as it computes test data, and it uses uncovered targets of these metrics to influence the creation of subsequent tests. Coverage metrics include Statement, Decision, Condition, Modified Condition/Decision Coverage (MC/DC), Function, and Function Call.

As Reactis Tester generates tests, it performs an array of checks to flag runtime errors in your C code. Memory errors are particularly easy to make in C and can be very hard to debug. A memory error occurs whenever a program reads-from or writes-to an invalid address. Memory errors are particularly common in C programs because the C programming language gives the programmer direct access to the program's memory, which can boost performance but also allows software defects to access arbitrary memory locations.

Some errors flagged by Reactis include out-of-bounds array indexes, buffer overruns, dangling heap pointers (accessing a region of heap-allocated memory after the memory has been freed), dangling stack pointers (accessing a pointer to a local variable of a function after the function has returned) and the use of pointers cast from incorrect numeric values. Reactis Tester not only detects these types of errors, it returns a test that can be executed in Reactis Simulator to pinpoint the underlying cause of the error.

Validator uses a test and check approach for verifying C code. You first instrument your code with checks that monitor whether behavior is consistent with expectations. Validator then uses the test-generation component of Tester to create and run test data to see if any checks can be violated. These tests can then be used to diagnose the cause of any abnormal behavior detected.

Eliminating runtime errors is important, but only one step towards high-quality software. A program that does not crash, but does the wrong thing is also unacceptable. Reactis Validator gives you a way to formulate and perform checks that your program is operating properly. Checks are formulated in a way similar to the assert mechanism of C.