A Fuzzy Test Cases Prioritization Technique for Regression Testing Programs with Assertions

摘要

Program assertions have been recognized as a supporting tool during software development, testing, and maintenance. Therefore, software developers place assertions within their code in positions considered to be error prone or have the potential to lead to software crash or failure. Like any other software, programs with assertions have to be maintained. Depending on the type of modification applied to the modified program, assertions also may have to go through some modifications. New assertions may also be introduced in the new version of the program while some assertions may be kept the same. This paper presents a novel approach for test cases prioritization using fuzzy logic for the purpose of regression testing programs with assertions. The proposed approach builds upon previous research in the fields of assertions-based software testing and assertions revalidation. In a first step, our method utilizes fuzzy logic concepts to measure the effectiveness of a given test case in violating a program assertion. The result of the first step is then used in prioritization test cases during the regression testing of programs with assertions. The main objective of this research is to show that fuzzy logic concepts may be employed to measure the effectiveness of a given test case in violating programs assertions during the regression testing of a modified program.