Baars, A.I., Harman, M., Hassoun, Y. et al. (4 more authors) (2011) Symbolic search-based testing. In: Alexander, P., Pasareanu, C.S. and Hosking, J.G., (eds.) Proceedings of 2011 26th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE 2011). 2011 26th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE 2011), 06-10 Nov 2011, Lawrence, KS, USA. IEEE , pp. 53-62. ISBN 978-1-4577-1638-6
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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2011 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Search–Based Testing; Symbolic Execution; Fitness Functions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Nov 2019 13:01 |
Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2019 13:01 |
Published Version: | http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | IEEE |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1109/ASE.2011.6100119 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:152427 |