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diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-triptrap.html b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-triptrap.html new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..b08faeb6596 --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-triptrap.html @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +<head> +<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label triptrap</title> +</head><body> +<h3>How can I be sure it’s really TeX?</h3> +<p/>TeX (and Metafont and MetaPost) are written in a + + <a href="FAQ-lit.html">‘literate’ programming</a> language called Web +which is designed to be portable across a wide range of computer +systems. How, then, is a new version of TeX checked? +<p/>Of course, any sensible software implementor will have his own suite +of tests to check that his software runs: those who port TeX and +its friends to other platforms do indeed perform such tests. +<p/>Knuth, however, provides a ‘conformance test’ for both TeX +(<code>trip</code>) and Metafont (<code>trap</code>). + +He characterises these as ‘torture tests’: they are designed not to +check the obvious things that ordinary typeset documents, or font +designs, will exercise, but rather to explore small alleyways off the +main path through the code of TeX. They are, to the casual reader, +pretty incomprehensible! +<p/>Once an implementation of TeX has passed its <code>trip</code> test, or an +implementation of Metafont has passed its <code>trap</code> test, then it may +in principle be distributed as a working version. (In practice, any +distributor would test new versions against “real” documents or +fonts, too; <code>trip</code> and <code>trap</code> don’t actually test any +for real world problems. +<p/><p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=triptrap">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=triptrap</a> +</body> |