Kagi Frequently Asked Question

Question:

Software Quality Assurance Tools for the Macintosh

Answer:

These are Macintosh test tools that find common programming mistakes. Thanks to Rich Brown at Dartmouth for suggesting this FAQ topic and providing these references.

EvenBetterBusError from Apple: It's an extension that catches places where the programmer dereferences a NIL pointer (which is never a useful thing to do on the Mac.) To do this, it installs a VBL task that jams an odd, unusual value into location zero (it's 0x50FF8001). When this happens, it's usually a result of incomplete error handling, ie failing to test for a nil return value. EvenBetterBusError is a free Developer tool from Apple and is available on their Developer CDs and most likely on their web site.

DisposeResource from Apple: Finds places the programmer tries to DisposeHandle a resource (instead of ReleaseResource) when debugging. DisposeResource is a free Developer tool from Apple and is available on their Developer CDs and most likely on their web site.

QC and/or Spotlight from Onyx Technology: A commercial package that performs the same tests as EvenBetterBusError and DisposeResource, along with a host of tests for other common programming errors. They have a demonstration version on their web site.

Soft Polish from Bare Bones performs some checks on resources, like cleaning up and spelling checks.

WindowDetective from Jef_Beeghly.

Modification Date: Tuesday, May 6, 1997