[Shootout-list] Many tests cheat

[Isaac Gouy]

> Many of the tests I've seen cheat, one way of the other.

Do you mean that many of the programs cheat?

> One Ocaml test uses double the allowed buffer size
> reading a file. Python cheats blatantly on the
> same test, using commands that read the whole file
> at once.

So compile a list of offending programs, indicating why you believe
they should not be accepted. 

> I'm generally in favour of functional testing,
> and doubt that 'do it the same way' tests prove
> anything at all. They tend to bias the tests in favour
> of language with 'same way' facilities and against
> others that don't -- for example Haskell can't do arrays
> so well.

Isn't that a useful thing to know?
Wasn't that one of the differences between Haskell and Clean?

> I would prefer to see tests where the requirement was
> for a significant outcome which suggests some technique
> which is efficient in one language, but doesn't require it.
> 
> For example, to test array access, create a test to do
> a significant array operation, such as multiply two
> large matrices. This may well penalise Haskell too,
> but there is opportunity to solve the problem using
> functional techniques.

Ummm - there is a test to multiply two matrices...

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