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IFIP International Conference on Testing Software and Systems

ICTSS 2021: Testing Software and Systems pp 181–188Cite as

Specification and Validation of Numerical Algorithms with the Gradual Contracts Pattern

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13045))

Abstract

In this contribution we discuss the domain specific problems arising when implementing test suites for numerical algorithms. We propose a design approach based on gradual contracts and a support library to alleviate some of these issues. Gradual contracts do not need to represent a full specification of an algorithm’s interface and can include untestable mathematical concepts. This encourages the developer to express their current, possibly incomplete, understanding of the algorithm in code and allows them to use automatic test generation for further insights. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach with the example of the Newton-Raphson method.

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Acknowledgment

Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy EXC 2044 -390685587, Mathematics Münster: Dynamics-Geometry-Structure and under RA 3055/1-1: pyMOR – Nachhaltige Software zur Modell-Ordnungs-Reduktion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Mathematics Münster, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany

    René Fritze & Stephan Rave

Authors
  1. René Fritze
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  2. Stephan Rave
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to René Fritze .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, London, UK

    David Clark

  2. Middlesex University, London, UK

    Hector Menendez

  3. Telecom SudParis, Evry Cedex, France

    Ana Rosa Cavalli

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Fritze, R., Rave, S. (2022). Specification and Validation of Numerical Algorithms with the Gradual Contracts Pattern. In: Clark, D., Menendez, H., Cavalli, A.R. (eds) Testing Software and Systems. ICTSS 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13045. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04673-5_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04673-5_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-04672-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-04673-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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