The Automation of (Black-box) Software Testing

（黑盒）软件测试的自动化

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-03681
• 负责人: Miller, James
• 金额: $ 3.35万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=659800
• 关键词: Automation; Black; box; Software; Testing

Current approaches to Software Testing fail to meet the objectives of the world economy. Problems and issues associated with undiscovered defects are now estimated to exceed more than 0.6% of global GDP. In Canadian terms, this equates to 9 Billion (U.S.) dollars; and approximately 400 Billion (U.S) dollars worldwide. Hence, this research program seeks to establish radical new approaches to software testing to contribute to alleviating this burden by reducing the costs of testing while increasing the benefits (the number of discovered defects). A basic tenet of the research is that software testing needs to be a highly automated process and that testing techniques need to treat the software under test (SUT) as a “black-box”; this allows black-box techniques to be applied to every piece of software without modification. This approach has become highly feasible because of the shift in modern computing to multi-core and cloud computing platforms. These platforms allow massive amounts of computing resources to be targeted towards testing objectives enabling automated systems to analyse vast numbers of testing scenarios. It is hypothesized that more efficient forms of testing can be achieved by viewing testing as a relatively SUT-independent process. The approach produces superior results (costs less, finds more defects) by bombarding the SUT with vast volumes of test scenarios (implying automation is essential). This ambitious program of research will solve fundamental problems in the efficient realization of test case generation strategies, program execution modelling techniques and test oracle definitions to realize this vision.******The proposal will generate a significant volume of important research results; specifically, based upon historical trends, Ph.D. students within the group generate a high-quality journal publication approximately every year. Hence, it is expected that the requested funding will directly generate 16 high-quality journals papers to be published in leading venues such as IEEE and ACM Transaction venues. The grant will also produce a large number of HQP (4 directly with the Discovery grant funding, with the entire proposal expected to produce 10 HQP), all highly qualified in the burgeoning area of automated software testing. It is hoped that these individuals can become a hub and propel Canada to the forefront of this new significant economic activity. Finally, it is expected that the software testing infrastructure developed during the project can become a software-as-a-service product, enabling the formation of a new enterprise providing services to the entire software community worldwide. Such an organization is highly attractive because (1) by utilizing pre-existing cloud-infrastructures as a service, it can be established with minimal capital requirements; and (2) without any physical footprint, the company becomes a worldwide entity upon creation. **

目前的软件测试方法不能满足世界经济的目标。与未发现的缺陷相关的问题和问题现在估计超过全球GDP的0.6%。在加拿大，这相当于90亿美元(美国)美元；全球约4000亿美元。因此，该研究计划寻求建立软件测试的激进新方法，以通过降低测试成本同时增加收益(发现的缺陷数量)来帮助减轻这一负担。这项研究的一个基本原则是，软件测试需要是一个高度自动化的过程，测试技术需要将被测软件(SUT)视为“黑盒”；这使得黑盒技术无需修改就可以应用于每一件软件。由于现代计算向多核和云计算平台的转变，这种方法已经变得高度可行。这些平台允许将大量计算资源定向到测试目标，从而使自动化系统能够分析大量的测试场景。假设可以通过将测试视为相对独立于SUT的过程来实现更有效的测试形式。通过用大量的测试场景轰炸SUT(意味着自动化是必不可少的)，该方法产生了更好的结果(成本更低，发现的缺陷更多)。这一雄心勃勃的研究计划将解决有效实现测试用例生成策略、程序执行建模技术和测试预言定义的基本问题，以实现这一愿景。*该提案将产生大量重要的研究成果；具体地说，根据历史趋势，该小组中的博士生几乎每年都会生成一份高质量的期刊出版物。因此，预计申请的资金将直接产生16篇高质量的期刊论文，在IEEE和ACM交易场所等领先场所发表。这笔拨款还将产生大量的HQP(4个直接使用Discovery赠款资金，整个提案预计将产生10个HQP)，所有这些都是在新兴的自动化软件测试领域非常合格的。希望这些人能够成为枢纽，推动加拿大走在这一新的重大经济活动的前列。最后，预计在项目期间开发的软件测试基础设施可以成为一种软件即服务产品，从而能够组建一个向全世界整个软件界提供服务的新企业。这样的组织极具吸引力，因为(1)通过利用现有的云基础设施作为服务，可以以最低的资本要求建立它；(2)在没有任何物理足迹的情况下，公司在创建时就成为了一个全球实体。**