A visual interactive debugger based on symbolic execution

We present the concepts, usage, and prototypic implementation of a new kind of visual debugging tool based on symbolic execution of Java source code called visual symbolic state debugger. It allows to start debugging of source code at any code location without the need to write a fixture as well as to visualize all possible symbolic execution paths and all symbolic states up to a finite depth. A code-based test generation facility is integrated. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.2.4 [Software Engineering]: Software/Program Verification—Formal methods; D.2.5 [Software Engineering]: Testing and Debugging—Debugging aids, symbolic execution, testing tools; D.2.6 [Software Engineering]: Programming Environments—Graphical environments General Terms algorithms, design, experimentation, verification Keywords symbolic execution, state visualisation, reverse debugging, test generation

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: KBSE
• Authors: Reiner Hähnle, Marcus Baum, Richard Bubel, Marcel Rothe
• Keywords: KBSE 2010, Software Engineering, Symbolic Execution, Symbolic States