Skip to main content

Generating Software Test Data by Particle Swarm Optimization

  • Conference paper
Book cover Simulated Evolution and Learning (SEAL 2014)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 8886))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Search-based method using meta-heuristic algorithms is a hot topic in automatic test data generation. In this paper, we develop an automatic test data generating tool named particle swarm optimization data generation tool (PSODGT). The PSODGT is characterized by the following two features. First, the PSODGT adopts the condition-decision coverage (C/DC) as the criterion of software testing, aiming to build an efficient test data set that covers all conditions. Second, the PSODGT uses a particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach to generate test data set. In addition, a new position initialization technique is developed for PSO. Instead of initializing the test data randomly, the proposed technique uses the previously-found test data that can reach the target condition as the initial positions so that the search speed of PSODGT can be further accelerated. The PSODGT is tested on four practical programs. Experimental results show that the proposed PSO approach is promising.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, “Then Economic Impacts of Inadequate Infrastructure for Software Testing,” Planning Report 02-3 (May 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Myers, G.J., Sandler, C., Badgett, T.: The art of software testing. John Wiley & Sons (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Díaz, E., Tuya, J., Blanco, R.: Automated Software Testing Using a Metaheuristic Technique Based on Tabu Search. In: Proc. 18th IEEE Int’l Conf. Automated Software Eng., pp. 310–313 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Michael, C.C., McGraw, G., Schatz, M.A.: Generating software test data by evolution. IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 27(12), 1085–1110 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bottaci, L.: Instrumenting Programs with Flag Variables for Test Data Search by Genetic Algorithm. In: Proc. Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conf., pp. 1337–1342 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Li, A., Zhang, Y.-L.: Automatic Generating All-Path Test Data of a Program Based on PSO. In: WRI World Congress on Software Eng., pp. 189-193 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Windisch, A., Wappler, S., Wegener, J.: Applying Particle Swarm Optimization to Software Testing. In: Proc. 9th Ann. Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conf., pp. 1121–1128 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cui, H.-H., Chen, L., Zhu, B., Kuang, H.-L.: An Efficient Automated Test Data Generation Method. In: Int’l Conf. Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation, vol. 1, pp. 453–456 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Zhang, S., Zhang, Y., Zhou, H., He, Q.-Q.: Automatic Path Test Data Generation Based on GA-PSO. In: Proc. IEEE Int’l Conf. Intelligent Computing and Intelligent Systems, pp. 142–146 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kennedy, J., Eberhart, R.: Particle swarm optimization. In: Proc. IEEE Int’l Conf. Neural Networks, vol. 4, pp. 1942–1948 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Frankl, P., Hamlet, D., Littlewood, B., Strigini, L.: Choosing a Testing Method to Deliver Reliability. In: Proc. Int’l Conf. Software Eng., pp. 68–78 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Chang, K.H., Cross II, J.H., Carlisle, W.H., Liao, S.-S.: A Performance Evaluation of Heuristics-Based Test Case Generation Methods for Software Branch Coverage. Int’l J. Software Eng. and Knowledge Eng. 6(4), 585–608 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Clarke, L.A.: A System to Generate Test Data Symbolically and Execute Programs. IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 2(3), 215–222 (1976)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Offutt, A.J.: An Integrated Automatic Test Data Generation System. J. Systems Integration 1, 391–409 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Korel, B.: Automated Software Test Data Generation. IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 16(8), 870–879 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Sofokleous, A.A., Andreou, A.S.: Automatic, evolutionary test data generation for dynamic software testing. J. Systems and Software 81(11), 1883–1898 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Harman, M., McMinn, P.: A theoretical and empirical study of search-based testing: Local, global, and hybrid search. IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 36(2), 226–247 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Shi, Y., Eberhart, R.: A modified particle swarm optimizer. In: Proc. IEEE Int’l Conf. Evolutionary Computation, pp. 69–73 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Jia, YH., Chen, WN., Zhang, J., Li, JJ. (2014). Generating Software Test Data by Particle Swarm Optimization. In: Dick, G., et al. Simulated Evolution and Learning. SEAL 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8886. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13563-2_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13563-2_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-13562-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-13563-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics