Towards Earlier Fault Detection by Value-Driven Prioritization of Test Cases Using Fuzzy TOPSIS

• In industrial software testing, development projects typically set up and maintain test suites containing large numbers of test cases. Executing a large number of test cases can be expensive in terms of effort and wall-clock time. Moreover, indiscriminate execution of all available test cases typically lead to sub-optimal use of testing resources. On the other hand, selecting too few test cases for execution might leave a large number of faults undiscovered. Limiting factors such as allocated budget and time constraints for testing further emphasizes the importance of test case prioritization in order to identify test cases that enable earlier detection of faults while respecting such constraints. In this paper, we propose a multi-criteria decision making approach for prioritizing test cases in order to detect faults earlier. This is achieved by applying the TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) decision making technique combined with fuzzy principles. Our solution is based on important criteria such as fault detection probability, execution time, complexity, and other test case properties. By applying the approach on a train control management subsystem from Bombardier Transportation in Sweden, we demonstrate how it helps, in a systematic way, to identify test cases that can lead to early detection of faults while respecting various criteria.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Datorsystem (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Computer Systems (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Software testing

Fault detection

Test Cases Prioritization

Optimization

Fuzzy logic

MCDM

TOPSIS

Failure rate

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)