Regression test suite minimization using integer linear programming model

Abstract

Software testers always face the dilemma of whether to retest the software with all the test cases or select a few of them on the basis of their fault detection ability. This paper introduces a novel approach to minimizing the test suite as an integer linear programming problem with optimal results. The minimization method uses the cohesion values of the program parts affected by the changes made to the program. The hypothesis is that the program parts with low cohesion values are more prone to errors. This assumption is validated on the mutation fault detection ability of the test cases. The experimental study carried out on 30 programs evaluates the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed framework. The experimental results show that the minimized test suite can efficiently reveal the errors and ensure acceptable software quality. Copyright Figure 6. ILP encoding of the test data given in Table I.Figure 7. Percentage of faults detected by ST and M T of the example program given in Figure 2.restricted features for academic and research. The minimized test-suite (MT) obtained by this process for the test data in Table I is M T D ¹T 8; T 10º. Figure 7 shows the percentage of faults detected by ST and M T for the example program in Figure 2. The number of histograms in the figure denote the test cases in the corresponding test suite. It is evident that even after 60% minimization of ST , the percentage of faults detected by M T is 91.6% as compared with 100% fault detection by ST , which is comparable owing to the reduced number of test cases in M T . The graph implies that within constrained budget and time, the testers can still ensure good quality of the software with M T considering 100% fault detection is never possible in a real scenario. EXPERIMENTAL STUDYAfter demonstrating the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed approach (refer Figure 7) for the example program given in Figure 2, we are posed with the following research questions (RQ): RQ1: Effectiveness. Does the minimized test suite actually guarantee acceptable quality (detection of faults) as compared with original test suite for all the experimental programs? RQ2: Usefulness. Is it feasible to generate the minimized test suite within acceptable time limits?

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