[hacspec] test vectors

[Trevor Perrin]

On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 6:40 PM, Franziskus Kiefer
<franziskuskiefer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> to make test vectors easier to use hacspec should also specify a common way
> of writing them.

I think that's a good project, though a test vector language does not
necessarily need to be coupled to a HacSpec language, I think.


> * Is JSON the right format to use here or do you think there are better
> formats?

FWIW, I like the idea of using a rigid subset of JSON for test
vectors, so it's easy to parse *either* with JSON or with dumb,
hand-written parsers.  You could imagine an interface to test simple
devices like smartcards that don't have a full JSON parser.  That's
the approach we're taking with Noise:

https://github.com/noiseprotocol/noise_wiki/wiki/Test-vectors
https://github.com/centromere/test-vector-spec/blob/master/output/test-vectors.pdf


NIST ACVP and Wycheproof are also looking into JSON test vectors for
crypto, so if you want to go further in that direction you could try
to get some of those people here.

https://github.com/usnistgov/ACVP/blob/master/artifacts/acvp_protocol.txt
https://github.com/google/wycheproof/tree/master/testvectors

Trevor