Safe Test Boundaries

"Regression testing is a significant problem in softwaredevelopment, particularly during the maintenance phase. Itinvolves repeated execution of previous test cases to instillback confidence in modified software. Even after minor changes,most commercial vendors and military software engineeringdirectorates perform regression testing. Sessions may runovernight or longer, especially when human intervention isnecessary for oversight. Trident proposes to develop a retestingmethodology, called safe test boundaries, and an automatedtesting capability to reduce required regression testing efforts.The foundation of this methodology is the local certifiabilityand modular reasoning arguments submitted by the software reuseresearch community. Three main concepts constitute the heart ofthe methodology. Design for testability that is based on localcertifiability principles increases the effectiveness of themethodology. The safe test boundary computation algorithmdistinguishes impacted and unimpacted components automaticallygiven the modifications. The test reselection algorithm extractsa subset of test cases associated with the candidate unmodifiedcomponents. The test execution support environment will usecustomizable test drivers that automatically run the test casesagainst unmodified components. Applicability of the methodologyto COTS domain in the context of Navy's Cooperative EngagementCapability will also be investigated.BENEFITS: It is a wel