ViBERT: Visual Behavior Regression Testing

Abstract

Regression testing is a type of software testing that aims at identifying faults caused by code changes. Regression testing is important especially during software evolution and maintenance. As developers integrate programs or make updates to a software system, they need to make sure the changes do not adversely affect other parts of the system. Using dynamic analysis, behavioral regression testing (BERT) is one of the techniques proposed to solve the problem by re-executing test cases that target the affected area. It compares the behavior of a program before and after the changes upon certain test cases. This paper proposes Visual BEhavioral Regression Testing (ViBERT), a visualization approach to comparing the behavioral differences between the new and old versions of a program in regression testing. We build a prototype called SoftLink, a visual environment that shows correlation/difference between two versions of a program behavior. SoftLink displays call graphs of two executions on angled parallel planes in a 3D space, and constructs correlations between them. It provides developers with an intuitive interpretation of the testing results. A case study is presented.