THE FEASIBILITY OF T: A TOOL TO AUTOMATICALLY GENERATE SOFTWARE TEST CASES

THE LACK OF HIGH-RELIABILITY SOFTWARE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL COMMUNITIES TODAY. TRADITIONAL V&V TECHNIQUES IMPROVE SOFTWARE RELIABILITY BY HELPING TO FIND ERRORS EARLY IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, BUT WE NEED TO GO BEYOND THESE TECHNIQUES TO FIND A WAY TO PREVENT ERRORS FROM OCCURRING IN THE FIRST PLACE. PEI HAS BEEN USING ERROR PREVENTION CONCEPTS IN A FRONT END TESTING APPROACH. WE HAVE DEVELOPED A SOFTWARE TESTING METHODOLOGY AND A NEW TOOL CALLED "T" WHICH GENERATES TEST CASES BEFORE THE DEVELOPER BEGINS DESIGN. THE METHODOLOGY AND THE TOOL WORK ON SMALL COLLECTIONS OF CODE BUT ARE NOT EFFECTIVE ON LARGE SOFTWARE SYSTEMS TODAY. WE PROPOSE A SOLUTION TO THE COMBINATORICS OR EXHAUSTIVE TESTING PROBLEM WHICH HAS DELAYED THE USE OF THESE INNOVATIONS ON PROJECTS PRODUCING MORE THAN A FEW THOUSAND LINES OF CODE.