Author: Vincent Diepeveen
Date: 06:39:14 11/04/02
Go up one level in this thread
On November 04, 2002 at 06:40:14, Pham Minh Tri wrote: I hardly use asserts in DIEP. If i need one i usually use a printf, which gets removed using a // when it is tested well and a year later or so removed. I guess bob has the same habit. I boundscheck carefully though and if i detect a difference in node count somewhere then i am going to check it out and do not ignore it or claim the compiler is to blame :) Note that it is a hard truth that compilers *do* make errors, but in 99.99% of the cases it is a bug in the program, so finding them happens very seldom. Basically i just found out some stupid things in gcc and in intel c++. Best regards, Vincent >On November 03, 2002 at 13:47:57, Vincent Diepeveen wrote: > >>On November 03, 2002 at 12:23:50, Russell Reagan wrote: >> >>Do you have an assert for every index in your program? >> >>If not then a boundschecker might be an idea to try as well :) >> >>>What I usually do to find bugs is use the assert() macro (in assert.h, or you >>>could write your own). Basically what you do is you assert things you know >>>should be true, such as an index into an array being in bounds. If it's false, >>>your program will halt and let you know where the error occured. For example: >>> >>>assert(i < MAX_VALUE); >>>myArray[i] = SomeFunction(x); >>> >>>That way, when you run the program, it will make sure that i is within bounds. >>>The cool thing about this is that it only does this in debug mode. In release >>>mode the assert()'s go away, so there is no speed penalty. In my programs I go >>>crazy with asserts, and put them all over the place, and it helps find some bugs >>>I wouldn't have found without the asserts. Yes, it will run slower in debug >>>mode, but the point of debug mode is to find bugs, not to run fast. >>> >>>Russell > >I agree that use of asserts in everywhere is one of the best experiences to >share (including check bounds). Sometimes my new changes can trigger some dozens >of asserts. Without asserts, my program can run two times slower in debug mode, >but now, it is 20-30 times (in term of nodes per second) as slow as it in >release mode. The big benefit is I can fast develop program, try many new ideas >without worrying much about new errors. > >One of amazing thing to me is that I don't find out asserts in Crafty. So I >guess Bob used a special program to clean up the developing versions before >releasing. >Bob, is it correct? Thanks :)
This page took 0.01 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.