Deterministic test program generation for evaluating cache coherency

A computer system for facilitating processing within a computing environment, the computer system comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor in communication with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, the method comprising:
• deterministically generating a test program to test cache coherency in the computing environment, the computing environment including at least one processing unit, and the deterministically generating including:
• producing cache state test sequences using graph traversal, wherein the cache state test sequences comprise closed paths of cache-affecting operations, and the using graph traversal includes traversing one or more state graphs with nodes representing cache states and connecting edges representing operations producing respective cache state transitions for the at least one processing unit;
• and
• pruning the cache state test sequences, using closed-path graph analysis, to generate the test program, wherein the test program has a selected cache coherence test coverage using chosen cache state test sequences obtained from pruning the cache state test sequences;
• and
• initiating executing of the test program in the computing environment to test the cache coherency.

A computer program product for facilitating processing within a computing environment, the computer program product comprising:

• one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media readable by at least one processer to:
• deterministically generate a test program to test cache coherency in the computing environment, where the computing environment includes at least one processing unit, and the deterministically generating includes:
• producing cache state test sequences using graph traversal, wherein the cache state test sequences comprise closed paths of cache-affecting operations, and the using graph traversal includes traversing one or more state graphs with nodes representing cache states and connecting edges representing operations producing respective cache state transitions for the at least one processing unit;
• and
• pruning the cache state test sequences, using closed-path graph analysis, to generate the test program, where the test program has a selected cache coherence test coverage using chosen cache state test sequences obtained from pruning the cache state test sequences;
• and
• initiate executing of the test program in the computing environment to test the cache coherency.