As part of Microsofts Trustworthy Computing [4] initiative the company has sought many ways to increase reliability. One approach being extensively investigated and used is Model Based Testing. With a Finite State Machine modeling tool (TMT) successfully deployed and in use by many test groups, a need for more powerful and flexible modeling has arisen. Several product groups are exploring the use of the Abstract State Machine Language (AsmL) and its associated test tool (AsmL/T). Results from both approaches have shown an increased ability to find defects earlier, including in the specification and design stages, as well as achieve higher structural code coverage on the actual systems under test.
Testing large systems is a daunting task, but there are steps we can take to ease the pain. T he increasing size and complexity of software, coupled with concurrency and distributed systems, has made apparent the ineffectiveness of using only handcrafted tests. The misuse of code coverage and avoidance of random testing has exacerbated the problem. We must start again, beginning with good design (including dependency analysis), good static checking (including model property checking), and good unit testing (including good input selection). Code coverage can help select and prioritize tests to make you more effi cient, as can the all-pairs technique for controlling the number of confi gurations. Finally, testers can use models to generate test coverage and good stochastic tests, and to act as test oracles.
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