Variable search space for software testing

Testing is an essential phase in the software life cycle. One of the most important tasks testing involves is the automatic generation of the test inputs. The field of evolutionary testing aims at solving this task by means of combinatorial optimization search methods. An evolutionary testing based approach to the automatic generation of test cases is presented. The developed approach considers variable search regions in which appropriate test inputs are sought. The search is performed by means of an emerging, set of evolutionary algorithms called estimation of distribution algorithms. The experimental results obtained show this approach as a promising option for tackling this problem.