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Automated black-box boundary value detection
Mid Sweden University, Faculty of Science, Technology and Media, Department of Communication, Quality Management, and Information Systems (2023-). (Software Engineering and Education)ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9372-3416
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Västra Götaland, Sweden.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Västra Götaland, Sweden.
2023 (English)In: PeerJ Computer Science, E-ISSN 2376-5992, Vol. 9, article id e1625Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Abstract  Software systems typically have an input domain that can be subdivided into sub-domains, each of which generates similar or related outputs. Testing it on the boundaries between these sub-domains is critical to ensure high-quality software. Therefore, boundary value analysis and testing have been a fundamental part of the software testing toolbox for a long time and are typically taught early to software engineering students. Despite its many argued benefits, boundary value analysis for a given software specification or application is typically described in abstract terms. This allows for variation in how testers apply it and in the benefits they see. Additionally, its adoption has been limited since it requires a specification or model to be analysed. We propose an automated black-box boundary value detection method to support software testers in performing systematic boundary value analysis. This dynamic method can be utilized even without a specification or model. The proposed method is based on a metric referred to as the program derivative, which quantifies the level of boundariness of test inputs. By combining this metric with search algorithms, we can identify and rank pairs of inputs as good boundary candidates, i.e., inputs that are in close proximity to each other but with outputs that are far apart. We have implemented the AutoBVA approach and evaluated it on a curated dataset of example programs. Furthermore, we have applied the approach broadly to a sample of 613 functions from the base library of the Julia programming language. The approach could identify boundary candidates that highlight diverse boundary behaviours in over 70% of investigated systems under test. The results demonstrate that even a simple variant of the program derivative, combined with broad sampling and search over the input space, can identify interesting boundary candidates for a significant portion of the functions under investigation. In conclusion, we also discuss the future extension of the approach to encompass more complex systems under test cases and datatypes. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
PeerJ , 2023. Vol. 9, article id e1625
National Category
Software Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-49809DOI: 10.7717/peerj-cs.1625ISI: 001106394300002Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85178018884OAI: oai:DiVA.org:miun-49809DiVA, id: diva2:1810703
Available from: 2023-11-08 Created: 2023-11-08 Last updated: 2023-12-15Bibliographically approved

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Dobslaw, Felix

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