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Instrumenting programs with flag variables for test data search by genetic algorithm

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Leonardo BottaciAuthors Info & Claims

GECCO'02: Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation

Pages 1337 - 1342

Published: 09 July 2002 Publication History

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Abstract

Evolutionary search is potentially a powerful way of searching for software test data to satisfy various structural testing criteria. Specific test cases are evaluated by a fitness function constructed by instrumenting the program under test. The more discriminating the fitness function, the more efficient the search. When a program uses flag variables to store the results of predicate expressions, it is difficult to instrument the program effectively. The problem is examined and a solution is given for a special case. An approach for tackling the general cases is described.

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Cited By

Zhu ZJiao LAuger AStützle T(2019)Improving search-based software testing by constraint-based genetic operatorsProceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference10.1145/3321707.3321720(1435-1442)Online publication date: 13-Jul-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3321707.3321720
Jia YChen WZhang JLi J(2014)Generating Software Test Data by Particle Swarm OptimizationProceedings of the 10th International Conference on Simulated Evolution and Learning - Volume 888610.1007/978-3-319-13563-2_4(37-47)Online publication date: 15-Dec-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-13563-2_4
Mcminn P(2013)An identification of program factors that impact crossover performance in evolutionary test input generation for the branch coverage of C programsInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2012.03.01055:1(153-172)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.infsof.2012.03.010
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cover image Guide Proceedings

GECCO'02: Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation

July 2002

1424 pages

ISBN:1558608788

Publisher

Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc.

San Francisco, CA, United States

Publication History

Published: 09 July 2002

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Cited By

Zhu ZJiao LAuger AStützle T(2019)Improving search-based software testing by constraint-based genetic operatorsProceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference10.1145/3321707.3321720(1435-1442)Online publication date: 13-Jul-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3321707.3321720
Jia YChen WZhang JLi J(2014)Generating Software Test Data by Particle Swarm OptimizationProceedings of the 10th International Conference on Simulated Evolution and Learning - Volume 888610.1007/978-3-319-13563-2_4(37-47)Online publication date: 15-Dec-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-13563-2_4
Mcminn P(2013)An identification of program factors that impact crossover performance in evolutionary test input generation for the branch coverage of C programsInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2012.03.01055:1(153-172)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.infsof.2012.03.010
Yoo SHarman M(2012)Test data regeneration: generating new test data from existing test dataSoftware Testing, Verification & Reliability10.1002/stvr.43522:3(171-201)Online publication date: 1-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1002/stvr.435
Binkley DHarman MLakhotia K(2011)FlagRemoverACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/2000791.200079620:3(1-33)Online publication date: 26-Aug-2011
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2000791.2000796
Harman MMenzies TKoru G(2010)The relationship between search based software engineering and predictive modelingProceedings of the 6th International Conference on Predictive Models in Software Engineering10.1145/1868328.1868330(1-13)Online publication date: 12-Sep-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1868328.1868330
Harman M(2010)Why the virtual nature of software makes it ideal for search based optimizationProceedings of the 13th international conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering10.1007/978-3-642-12029-9_1(1-12)Online publication date: 20-Mar-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-642-12029-9_1
Wappler SWegener JBaresel A(2009)Evolutionary testing of software with function-assigned flagsJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2009.06.03782:11(1767-1779)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2009
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2009.06.037
Harman MBaresel ABinkley DHierons RHu LKorel BMcMinn PRoper M(2008)Testability transformationFormal methods and testing10.5555/1806209.1806220(320-344)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/1806209.1806220
Zhan YClark J(2008)A search-based framework for automatic testing of MATLAB/Simulink modelsJournal of Systems and Software10.5555/1326359.132642681:2(262-285)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/1326359.1326426
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