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This chapter defines the verification strategy for EMulatR. It explains how correctness is tested, how regressions are prevented, and how architectural compliance with Alpha AXP is asserted and defended. This is the capstone chapter — it is not about features but about credibility.

 

Core Principle: Architectural claims must be provable, not aspirational. If behavior cannot be tested, it is not considered correct. EMulatR treats testing and validation as first-class architectural concerns, not post-hoc activities.

 

Scope: This chapter covers the definition of correctness, the five-layer validation strategy (unit → instruction → pipeline → SMP → system), determinism as a validation instrument, subsystem-specific validation (exceptions, memory ordering, LL/SC, PAL, devices), regression testing policy, the architectural compliance matrix, known deviations and non-goals, and the final compliance statement. It does not cover the tracing infrastructure (Chapter 21) except where tracing supports validation.

 

This chapter should be treated as a correctness checklist, a validation guide, a regression test oracle, and a contributor contract.

 

See Also: Chapter 21 – Debugging, Tracing, and Determinism (tracing infrastructure supporting validation); Chapter 11 - Architectural Invariants (invariant definitions that validation must verify).