Computation in an algebra of test selection criteria

TL;DR

This paper introduces an algebraic framework for defining and combining test selection criteria, analyzes a specific language for automatic test set generation, and presents an efficient algorithm with implementation details.

Contribution

It develops a formal algebraic schema for test selection criteria and provides an efficient algorithm for generating small adequate test sets within this framework.

Findings

A formal algebraic schema for test criteria is established.

An intractability result for some test set generation problems is shown.

An efficient algorithm for a specific test set generation problem is implemented.

Abstract

One of the key concepts in testing is that of adequate test sets. A test selection criterion decides which test sets are adequate. In this paper, a language schema for specifying a large class of test selection criteria is developed; the schema is based on two operations for building complex criteria from simple ones. Basic algebraic properties of the two operations are derived. In the second part of the paper, a simple language-an instance of the general schema-is studied in detail, with the goal of generating small adequate test sets automatically. It is shown that one version of the problem is intractable, while another is solvable by an efficient algorithm. An implementation of the algorithm is described.