Approximations

Some software defies any attempt to predict the exact behavior it should exhibit. Scientific and financial software often perform immensely complex calculations with numerous input variables. Computing the expected result is not feasible because the domain is so complex. Even subject matter experts would be hard-pressed to determine if a given result is correct.

Simulations and modeling software can be even more difficult to evaluate. They are often intentionally unpredictable, using nondeterministic algorithms to generate probabilistic results. Some games fall into this category as well: they randomly generate a board or a map, or they randomly spawn nonplayer characters.

The difficulty in determining expected results in ...

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