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Automated Testing of Classes
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA 2002)
Portland, OR, August 2000
Ugo Buy, Alessandro Orso, and Mauro Pezzè
Abstract
Programs developed with object technologies have unique features
that often make traditional testing methods inadequate. Consider,
for instance, the dependence between the state of an object and the
behavior of that object: The outcome of a method executed by an
object often depends on the state of the object when the method is
invoked. It is therefore crucial that techniques for testing of
classes exercise class methods when the method's receiver is in
different states. The state of an object at any given time depends
on the sequence of messages received by the object up to that time.
Thus, methods for testing object-oriented software should identify
sequences of method invocations that are likely to uncover potential
defects in the code under test. However, testing methods for
traditional software do not provide this kind of information.
In this paper, we use data flow analysis, symbolic execution, and
automated deduction to produce sequences of method invocations
exercising a class under test. Since the static analysis techniques
that we use are applied to different subproblems, the method proposed in
this paper can automatically generate information relevant to testing
even when symbolic execution and automated deduction cannot be completed
successfully.
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