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Formal Methods at the Crossroads. From Panacea to Foundational Support pp 34–48Cite as

Contract-Based Testing

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2757))

Abstract

A tester relies on some sort of contract between the users and the implementers of a system. The contract defines the obligations of each part that are partially checked by selecting and executing test-cases. In fact, these test-cases are contracts, too, although in a rather operational form. In this article we define the general relationship between these two forms of contract and present a method how various test-selection strategies can be defined formally. More precisely, we demonstrate how test-cases can be calculated from contracts using a refinement calculus.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The United Nations University International Institute for Software Technology (UNU/IIST), P.O. Box 3058, Macau

    Bernhard K. Aichernig

Authors
  1. Bernhard K. Aichernig
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Software Technology, Graz University of Technology, Austria

    Bernhard K. Aichernig

  2. Department of Computing and Software, McMaster University, 1280 Main St West, L8S 4K1, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Tom Maibaum

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Aichernig, B.K. (2003). Contract-Based Testing. In: Aichernig, B.K., Maibaum, T. (eds) Formal Methods at the Crossroads. From Panacea to Foundational Support. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2757. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-40007-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-40007-3_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-20527-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-40007-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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