This International Standard is applicable to the development and use of conformance test method specifications for POSIX standards and may be applicable to other application programming interface specifications. This International Standard is intended for developers and users of test method specifications and test method implementations.

The users of this standard include

• Assertion Writers: to format assertions
• Assertion Test Writers: to write assertion tests
• Test Suite or System Procurers: to interpret the results of test suites

The purpose of this standard is to define requirements and guidelines for developing assertions and related test methods for measuring conformance of an implementation under test (IUT) to POSIX standards. Test method implementations may include Conformance Test Software (CTS), POSIX Conformance Test Procedures (CTP), and audits of Conformance Documents (CD).

Testing conformance of an implementation to a standard includes testing the capabilities and behavior of the implementation with respect to the conformance requirements of the standard. Test methods are intended to provide a reasonable, practical assurance that the implementation conforms to the standard. Use of these test methods will not guarantee conformance of an implementation to the standard; that normally would require exhaustive testing (see 7.2.1), which is impractical for both technical and economic reasons.