SCOUT: a multi-objective method to select components in designing unit testing

• Main Author: Freitas, Eduardo Noronha de Andrade
• Other Authors: Vincenzi, Auri Marcelo RIzzo
• Format: Others
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Federal de Goiás 2016
• Subjects: Software testing; Unit testing; Component selection; Search based software testing (SBST); Multiobjective optmization; CIENCIAS EXATAS E DA TERRA::CIENCIA DA COMPUTACAO
• Online Access: http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tede/5674

Submitted by Marlene Santos ([e-mail]) on 2016-06-09T17:02:10Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Eduardo Noronha de Andrade Freitas - 2016.pdf: 1936673 bytes, checksum: 4336d187b0e552ae806ef83b9f695db0 (MD5) license_rdf: 19874 bytes, checksum: 38cb62ef53e6f513db2fb7e337df6485 (MD5) === Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira ([e-mail]) on 2016-06-10T11:14:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Eduardo Noronha de Andrade Freitas - 2016.pdf: 1936673 bytes, checksum: 4336d187b0e552ae806ef83b9f695db0 (MD5) license_rdf: 19874 bytes, checksum: 38cb62ef53e6f513db2fb7e337df6485 (MD5) === Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-10T11:14:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Eduardo Noronha de Andrade Freitas - 2016.pdf: 1936673 bytes, checksum: 4336d187b0e552ae806ef83b9f695db0 (MD5) license_rdf: 19874 bytes, checksum: 38cb62ef53e6f513db2fb7e337df6485 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-15 === Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES === Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG === The creation of a suite of unit testing is preceded by the selection of which components (code units) should be tested. This selection is a significant challenge, usually made based on the team member’s experience or guided by defect prediction or fault localization models. We modeled the selection of components for unit testing with limited resources as a multi-objective problem, addressing two different objectives: maximizing benefits and minimizing cost. To measure the benefit of a component, we made use of important metrics from static analysis (cost of future maintenance), dynamic analysis (risk of fault, and frequency of calls), and business value. We tackled gaps and challenges in the literature to formulate an effective method, the Selector of Software Components for Unit testing (SCOUT). SCOUT was structured in two stages: an automated extraction of all necessary data and a multi-objective optimization process. The Android platform was chosen to perform our experiments, and nine leading open-source applications were used as our subjects. SCOUT was compared with two of the most frequently used strategies in terms of efficacy.We also compared the effectiveness and efficiency of seven algorithms in solving a multi-objective component selection problem: random technique; constructivist heuristic; Gurobi, a commercial tool; genetic algorithm; SPEA_II; NSGA_II; and NSGA_III. The results indicate the benefits of using multi-objective evolutionary approaches such as NSGA_II and demonstrate that SCOUT has a significant potential to reduce market vulnerability. To the best of our knowledge, SCOUT is the first method to assist software testing managers in selecting components at the method level for the development of unit testing in an automated way based on a multi-objective approach, exploring static and dynamic metrics and business value. === (Sem resumo)