TestTube: A System for Selective Regression Testing

This paper describes a system called TESTTUBE that combines static and dynamic analysis to perform selective retesting of software systems written in C. TESTTUBEfirst identifies which functions, types, variables and macros are covered by each test unit in a test suite. Each time the system under test is modified, TESTTUBEidentifies which entities were changed to create the new version. Using the coverage and change information, TESTTUBEselects only those test units that cover the changed entities for testing the new version. We have applied TESTTUBEto selective retesting of two software systems, an 1/0library and a source code analyzer. Additionally, we are adapting TESTTUBEfor selective retesting of nondeterministic systems, where the main drawback is the unsuitability of dynamic analysis for identification of covered entities. Our experience with TESTTUBEhas been quite encouraging, with an observed reduction of 50% or more in the number of test cases needed to test typical software ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1994
• Where: ICSE
• Authors: Yih-Farn Chen, David S. Rosenblum, Kiem-Phong Vo
• Keywords: Dynamic Analysis, ICSE 1994, Selective Retesting, Software Engineering, Test Units