Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2019 / Imperative programming / 1 / f / Solution

Equivalence partitioning divides the input domain into classes expected to exercise the same relevant behavior, then chooses representatives and boundary cases from each class. It is a way to select tests, not a proof that every member of a class must behave identically in a faulty implementation.

Useful classes for this parser include integer-only inputs, a leading point, a trailing point, and digits on both sides; all-zero inputs and inputs containing ones; leading or trailing zeroes; one-digit and longer blocks; and large integer or tiny fractional magnitudes near floating-point rounding, floating-point overflow and floating-point underflow boundaries. For instance, compare '1', '1.', '.1', '1.1', '0001.1000', and digit strings just beyond the exact integer precision of Double. Empty digit blocks have the zero convention used above. If a surrounding validator rejects an entirely empty representation or a bare point, test those as separate invalid-format classes. Unexpected digits and multiple points are likewise validator tests, since the conversion fragments assume well-formed input. Include representatives with independently calculated positional values, rather than relying only on inverse conversion.