[0x457]

> For compiled languages it should be fine, as you're only going to compile the permuted source code, not execute it.

Only if you'te going for compiler bug. If you're working on minimal reproducible example. You need to make sure your code isn't reduced to:

int main() { return 0; }

in that case.

[_flux]

I don't think that should trigger a reasonable interesting condition one has specified, so that should not happen. So I suppose for non-compiler-bugs you need to check (from the output) that the correct thing is being done, in addition to detecting the actual issue.

[0x457]

Well, that's what I said? If you're "reducing" anything other than a compiler bug (what C-Reduce is made for), you most likely have to execute code.

[_flux]

I was not disagreeing with that, merely pointing out that the reproduction test shouldn't be passing with the minimal runnable C program, or indeed for many many previous iterations before that. In my mind also runnable programs would be tested with grep, instead of relying on the return code of the program.