Name: ab88733 Date: 11/11/99



Assertions are boolean expressions that the programmer believes to be
true concerning the state of a computer program. For example, after
sorting a list, the programmer might assert that the list is in ascending
order. Evaluating assertions at runtime to confirm their validity is one
of the most powerful tools for improving code quality, as it quickly
uncovers the programmer's misconceptions concerning a program's
behavior. Because there is a cost associated with checking assertions, it
is highly desirable that it be possible to selectively disable assertion
checking.

Many popular programming languages, including C and C++, have
widely used and appreciated preprocessor-based assertion checking
facilities. Several more recent programming languages, including
Sather and Eiffel, have assertion-checking constructs as part of the
language. The Java programming language was originally slated to
contain such a construct, but due to time constraints, the construct
never made it into the language.

JSR 41, at http://java.sun.com/aboutJava/communityprocess/jsr/jsr_041_asrt.html

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