[gentoo-soc] Benchmark suite - Report 2

[Andrea Arteaga]

This is my very brief second report.

I have begun to code the benchmark suite. As case study, I have
written a Python script for BLAS implementations. Given a dictionary
containing information on which package to test with which
environment, the script emerges the package with the given
environment, installs it in the given directory (alternative root),
tests the implementation and stores the results. In this way, the
non-root user can also independently test the BLAS implementations and
the main system remains unaffected. The same package can be tested
with different environment states (e.g. blas-reference with
FC=gfortran or with FC=ifort) and the results will be treated
separately.

I don't have yet a testing suite. My mentor and I are trying to adapt
the BTL testing suite. We are also trying to solve a problem with the
dynamic linking of blas-reference which has emerged during the tests.

I'm writing a minimal Python interface to portage using the command
line: the script makes use of the functions in this interface in order
to install and remove packages. As soon as I can I will change the
implementation of these functions using the existing APIs (gentoolkit
and public_api), without the need to change anything in the main
script.

Next objectives (1-2 weeks):
* Interpret the user's input about the libraries to be tested.
* Construct a test suite for BLAS.
* Split from the script the test-dependent code. The script has to be
general, while external modules will give information on how to
install and test the implementation packages.
* Make the portage interface better, possibly using the existing APIs.

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Best regards
Andrea Arteaga