verification-strategy

Verification Strategy

How to verify your work is correct before declaring a task complete.

The Verification Checklist

After implementing a solution, go through ALL of these:

1. Re-read the original task

• Re-read the EXACT wording of the task instruction
• Check every requirement — file paths, names, formats, constraints
• Are there implicit requirements? ("compile with gcc -O3 -lm" means exact flags)

2. Check file outputs

• Do all required files exist at the exact paths specified?
• Are file sizes within any stated limits?
• Is the file format correct? (binary vs text, encoding, line endings)

ls -la /path/to/expected/output
wc -c /path/to/output    # byte count
file /path/to/output      # format detection
head -5 /path/to/output   # content preview

3. Compile and run

• Compile with the EXACT flags specified in the task
• Run with the EXACT command and arguments specified
• Check exit code: echo $? (should be 0 for success)
• Check both stdout AND stderr

4. Validate output

• Compare output against expected format
• Check exact field names, delimiters, number formatting
• If the task specifies output format, match it exactly:
  • JSON: valid JSON? correct schema?
  • CSV: correct headers? correct delimiter?
  • Plain text: correct line endings? trailing newline?

5. Test edge cases

• Empty input (if applicable)
• The specific test inputs mentioned in the task
• Large inputs (if the task involves performance)

6. Check constraints

• Size limits (file size, code length)
• Time limits (does it finish in reasonable time?)
• Memory limits (does it stay within bounds?)
• No external dependencies that aren't available

Reading Test Scripts

If you can find the test script, READ IT:

• What exact assertions does it make?
• What inputs does it use?
• What output format does it expect?
• What timeouts are set?

Tests often check things you didn't expect:

• Exact string matching (whitespace matters!)
• Specific numeric precision
• File permissions
• Process exit codes

Common Verification Failures

What you think is right	What the test actually checks
Output on stdout	Output in a specific file
Human-readable numbers	Exact decimal precision
Relative file paths	Absolute file paths
"Close enough" answer	Exact match
Code that runs	Code under a specific size limit

Final Check

Before declaring done, ask yourself:

1. Did I create/modify ALL the files the task asks for?
2. Did I use the EXACT paths, names, and formats specified?
3. Does my code compile/run WITHOUT errors?
4. Does my output match what automated tests would expect?
5. Have I cleaned up any debug output or temporary files?