Difference engine method and apparatus

A method of analyzing a plurality of strings of data derived from at least one data processing device, comprising:

• initializing said data, said act of initializing including creating a symbol array;
• analyzing said strings of data based at least in part on said symbol array;
• and
• identifying at least one relationship between one or more of said data within one or more of said strings.

A method of identifying differences within a plurality of data inputs associated with at least one data processor, comprising:

• providing a plurality of data inputs having at least one data string associated therewith;
• processing those inputs of said plurality that do not share any of said at least one data strings with other of said inputs;
• determining whether an excluded set of data is empty;
• and
• if said excluded set of data is not empty, identifying said differences using respective members of an included set as said plurality of inputs.

A storage device, comprising:

• a computer readable medium;
• a computer program stored on said computer readable medium, said program being adapted for analyzing a plurality of strings of data derived from at least one data processing device according to the method comprising:
• initializing said data, said act of initializing including creating a symbol array;
• analyzing said strings of data based at least in part on said symbol array;
• and
• identifying at least one relationship between one or more of said data within one or more of said strings.

A data processing device, comprising:

• a processor adapted to process digital data and execute a computer program;
• a storage device in data communication with said processor, said storage device comprising:
• a computer readable medium;
• and
• a computer program stored on said computer readable medium, said program being adapted for analyzing a plurality of strings of data derived from at least one data processing device according to the method comprising:
• initializing said data, said act of initializing including creating a symbol array;
• analyzing said strings of data based at least in part on said symbol array;
• and
• identifying at least one relationship between one or more of said data within one or more of said strings.

A method of designing a processing device adapted to run at least one software process thereon, comprising:

• generating a design for said processing device;
• running at least a portion of said at least one software process a first time;
• obtaining a first output from said at least one process;
• modifying said design;
• running said at least portion of said at least one software process a second time;
• obtaining a second output from said at least one process;
• and
• identifying differences within said first and second output.

A method of evaluating the operation of a plurality of software processes running on respective ones of a plurality of digital processors, comprising:

• generating a first data string using a first of said plurality of software processes;
• generating a second data string using a second of said plurality of software processes;
• inputting said first and second data strings into a debug software process;
• analyzing said first and second data strings using said debug process;
• and
• evaluating the operation of said processes based at least in part on said act of analyzing.