Abstract
The aim of the paper is to investigate methods for deriving a suitable set of test paths for a software system. The design and the possible uses of the software system are modelled by a Markov Usage Model which reflects the operational distribution of the software system and is enriched by estimates of failure probabilities, losses in case of failure and testing costs. Exploiting this information, we consider the tradeoff between coverage and testing costs and try to find an optimal compromise between both. For that purpose, we use a heuristic optimization procedure inspired by nature, Ant Colony Optimization, which seems to fit very well to the problem structure under consideration. A real world software system is studied to demonstrate the applicability of our approach and to obtain first experimental results.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aho, A. V., Dahbura, A. T., Lee, D., Uyar, M. Ü, “An optimization technique for protocol conformance test generation based on UIO sequences and rural chinese postman tours”, IEEE Trans. on Communications 39 (1991), pp. 1604–1615.
Belli, F., Grosspietsch, K.-E., “Specification of fault-tolerant system issues by predicate/transition nets and regular expressions — approach and case study”, IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 17 (no. 6) (1991), pp. 513–526.
Belli, F., “Finite-state testing and analysis of graphical user interfaces”, Proc. 12th Int. Symp. on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE), IEEE CS Press (2001), pp. 34–43.
Bullnheimer, B., Hartl, R. F., Strauss, C., “A new rank-based version of the Ant System: A computational study”, Central European Journal for Operations Research 7(1) (1999), pp. 25–38.
Cheung, R. C., “A user-oriented software reliability model”, IEEE Trans. Software Eng., vol. 6 (1980), pp. 118–125.
Csöndes, T., Kotnyek, B., Szabó, J. Z., “Application of heuristice methods for conformance test selection”, European J. of Operational Research, vol. 142 (2002), pp. 203–218.
Doerner, K., Gutjahr, W. J., “Representation and Optimization of Software Usage Models with Non-Markovian State Transitions”, Information and Software Technology vol. 47 (2000), pp. 873–884.
Doerner, K., Laure, E., “High performance computing in the optimization of test plans”, Optimization and Engineering, vol. 3 (2002), pp. 67–87.
Dorigo, M., Di Caro, G., “The Ant Colony Optimization metaheuristic”, in: New Ideas in Optimization, D. Corne, M. Dorigo, F. Glover (eds.), pp. 11–32, McGraw-Hill (1999).
Dorigo, M., Maniezzo, V., Colorni, A., “The Ant System: An autocatalytic optimization process”, Technical Report 91-016, Dept. of Electronics, Politecnico di Milano, Italy (1991).
Gutjahr, W. J., “Importance sampling of test cases in Markovian software usage models”, Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences, vol. 11, (1997), pp. 19–26.
Gutjahr, W. J., “Software Dependability Evaluation Based on Markov Usage Models”, Performance Evaluation, vol. 40 (2000), pp. 199–222.
Gutjahr, W. J., “A graph-based Ant System and its convergence”, Future Generation Computing Systems 16 (2000), pp. 873–888.
Gutjahr, W. J., “ACO Algorithms with Guaranteed Convergence to the Optimal Solution”, accepted for publication in: Information Processing Letters.
Harman, M., Jones, B. F., “Search-based software engineering”, Information and Software Technology, vol. 43 (2001), pp. 833–839.
Kallepalli, Ch., “Measuring and modeling usage and reliability for statistical Web testing”, IEEE Trans. Software Eng. vol. 27 (no. 11) (2001), pp. 1023–1036. IEE Proc.-Softw. 146, no. 4 (1999), pp. 187—192.
Kumar, G. P., Venkataram, P., “Protocol test sequence generation using MUIOS based on TSP Problem”, Proc. IFIP TC6 Conf. (1994), pp. 165–191.
Littlewood, B., “A reliability model for systems with Markov structure”, J. Royal Statistical Soc., Series C (Applied Statistics), vol. 24 (1975), pp. 172–177.
Littlewood, B., “A Semi-Markov model for software reliability fith failure costs”. In: MRI Symp. Computer Software Engineering, Polytechnic Press, Polytechnic of New York, New York (1976), pp. 281–300.
Littlewood, B., “Software Reliability Models for modular program structure”, IEEE Trans. Reliab., vol. 28 (no. 3) (1979), pp. 241–246.
Poore, J. H., Trammell, C. J., “Application of statistical science to testing and evaluating software intensive systems”. In: Statistics, Testing, and Defense Acquisition, Washington: National Academy Press (1998).
Rajgopal, J., Mazumdar, M., “Modular operational test plans for inferences on software reliability based on a Markov model”, IEEE Trans. Software Eng., vol. 28 (no. 4) (2002), pp. 358–363.
Rivers, A. T., Vouk, A. M., “Resource-constrained non-operational testing of software”, Proc. 9th Int. Symp. on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE), pp. 154–163 (1998).
Sayre, K., Poore, J. H., “Partition testing with usage models”, Information and software technology, vol. 42 (2000), pp. 845–850.
Siegrist, K., “Reliability of systems with Markov transfers of control”, IEEE Trans. Software Eng., vol. 14 (no. 7) (1988), pp. 1049–1053.
Walton, G. H., Poore, J. H., Trammell, J., “Statistical testing of software based on a usage model”, Software — Practice and Experience, vol. 25(1) (1995), pp. 97–108.
Whittaker, J. A., Poore, J. H., “Markov analysis of software specifications”, ACM Trans. on Software Eng. and Method., vol. 2(1) (1993), pp. 93–106.
Whittaker, J. A., Thomason, M. G., “A Markov chain model for statistical software testing”, IEEE Trans. Software Eng., vol. SE-20 (1994), pp. 812–824.
Zhang, F., Cheung, T. Y., “Optimal Transfer Trees and Distinguishing Trees for Testing Observable Nondeterministic Finite-State Machines”, IEEE Trans. Software Eng., vol. SE-29 (2003), pp. 1–14.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Doerner, K., Gutjahr, W.J. (2003). Extracting Test Sequences from a Markov Software Usage Model by ACO. In: Cantú-Paz, E., et al. Genetic and Evolutionary Computation — GECCO 2003. GECCO 2003. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2724. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45110-2_150
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45110-2_150
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-40603-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45110-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive