TIE: an interactive visualization of thread interleavings

Multi-core processors have become increasingly prevalent, driving a software shift toward concurrent programs which best utilize these processors. Testing and debugging concurrent programs is difficult due to the many different ways threads can interleave. One solution to testing concurrent software is to use tools, such as NASA's Java PathFinder (JPF), to explore the thread interleaving space. Although tools such as JPF provide comprehensive data about program errors, the data is generally in the form of bulk text logs, which provide little support for common analysis tasks, such as finding common and rare error states. In this paper, we present an interactive visualization tool, TIE, that integrates with JPF to enhance concurrency testing and debugging. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.2.5 [Software Engineering]: Testing and Debugging; D.2.4 [Software Engineering]: Software/Program Verification--model checking; H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interface...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: SOFTVIS
• Authors: Gowritharan Maheswara, Jeremy S. Bradbury, Christopher Collins
• Keywords: Concurrent Programs, Debugging, SOFTVIS 2010, Testing Concurrent Software, Visualization