NeoCell 4.0 -- our product which does the actual layout of a chip -- is supposed to go into alpha next week.

Right now, large parts of it aren't even building, let alone running.

Meanwhile, I'm supposed to test my module and make sure that the tool can understand my output, and my module can understand the tool's output.

Multiple choice: What's wrong with this scenario?
  (a) Milestones such as "alpha," "beta," etc., are arbitrary dates and do not reflect the maturity of the software.
  (b) Nightly builds don't work, and none of the developers care.
  (c) Dave is expected to test against vaporware.
  (d) Dave agreed to work for these morons.

Ok, Dave, calm down. You just need to hold on until your stock options become liquid. Then you can do serious work on Kanga Design Automation. Please, please, let that be days or weeks, not months or years.