DocumentCode :
2601350
Title :
Symbolic search-based testing
Author :
Baars, Arthur ; Harman, Mark ; Hassoun, Youssef ; Lakhotia, Kiran ; McMinn, Phil ; Tonella, Paolo ; Vos, Tanja
Author_Institution :
Univ. Politec. de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
fYear :
2011
fDate :
6-10 Nov. 2011
Firstpage :
53
Lastpage :
62
Abstract :
We present an algorithm for constructing fitness functions that improve the efficiency of search-based testing when trying to generate branch adequate test data. The algorithm combines symbolic information with dynamic analysis and has two key advantages: It does not require any change in the underlying test data generation technique and it avoids many problems traditionally associated with symbolic execution, in particular the presence of loops. We have evaluated the algorithm on industrial closed source and open source systems using both local and global search-based testing techniques, demonstrating that both are statistically significantly more efficient using our approach. The test for significance was done using a one-sided, paired Wilcoxon signed rank test. On average, the local search requires 23.41% and the global search 7.78% fewer fitness evaluations when using a symbolic execution based fitness function generated by the algorithm.
Keywords :
automatic test software; information retrieval; program diagnostics; program testing; branch adequate test data generation; dynamic analysis; fitness functions; global search-based testing technique; industrial closed source system; local search-based testing technique; one-sided paired Wilcoxon signed rank test; open source systems; symbolic execution; symbolic information; symbolic search-based testing; Algorithm design and analysis; Approximation algorithms; Approximation methods; Educational institutions; Software algorithms; Software testing; Fitness Functions; Search-Based Testing; Symbolic Execution;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Automated Software Engineering (ASE), 2011 26th IEEE/ACM International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Lawrence, KS
ISSN :
1938-4300
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-1638-6
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/ASE.2011.6100119
Filename :
6100119
Link To Document :
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