ECE 452 Introduction to Software

Engineering

Lecture 25: Testing Strategies/OO

Testing

Verification & validation

Verification: Are we building the product right
z Validation: Are we building the right product
z

Manish Parashar
parashar@[Link]
Department of Electrical &
Computer Engineering
Rutgers University

Testing strategy

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Unit testing
interface

Module

high-order
tests

requirements

local data structures

boundary conditions
independent paths

integration test

design

error handling paths

unit
test

code

Test cases

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Unit testing environment

interface

driver

local data structures

boundary conditions

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Why integration testing?

If all units work individually, why doubt that
they work together?
z Putting units together - interfacing
z

independent paths

Module

error handling paths

stub

stub
RESULTS

Test cases

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Integration testing

Top down integration

incremental
construction
strategy

Big
Bang!

incremental
builds

as new modules are integrated,

some subset of tests is re-run

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Bottom-up integration

G
stubs are replaced one at
a time, depth first

C
regression
testing

top module is tested

with stubs

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Sandwich testing

A
B

drivers are replaced one

at a time, depth first

cluster

worker modules are grouped into

builds and integrated

validation test
z system test
z alpha and beta test
z other specialized testing
z

y performance testing
y usability testing
y ...

worker modules are grouped into

builds and integrated

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Alpha & Beta test

Alpha test

software

customer tests

developer site

customer site

Beta test

developer
reviews

developer site
ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

cluster

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

High-order testing

top modules are tested

with stubs

customer
tests

software
customer site

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Testing strategies and OO testing

Object - oriented testing

Testing strategies & higher-order testing

z Testing object-oriented software

begins by evaluating the correctness and consistency

of the OOA and OOD models
testing strategy changes
y the

concept of the unit broadens due to encapsulation

focuses on classes and their execution across a
thread or in the context of a use case

y integration
y validation

uses conventional black box methods

test case design draws on conventional methods, but

also encompasses special features

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

OOT strategy

Integration testing of OO software

classes are the smallest testable unit

inheritance defines new context for methods
y

z
z

objects have states: testing methods have to take that into

account
class testing is the equivalent of unit testing
y
y

behavior of inherited methods can be changed because of methods that

are called within
methods have to be tested per class

thread-based testing
x integrates

the set of classes required to respond to one input or

event
z

use-case based testing

x integrates the set of classes required to respond to one use case
x shows that every use case is executable within the system

with and without user interface

operations within the class are tested

the state behavior of the class is tested

OO testing concentrates on the states of the objects and their

interactions
ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

OOT - test case design (1)

Berard [BER93] proposes the following approach:
1. each test case should be uniquely identified and
should be explicitly associated with the class to
be tested
2. the purpose of the test should be stated
3. a list of testing steps should be developed for
each test and should contain [BER94]:

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

OOT - test case design (2)

A a list of specified states for the object that is to be
tested
B a list of messages and operations that will be exercised
as a consequence of the test
C a list of exceptions that may occur as the object is
tested
D a list of external conditions (i.e., changes in the
environment external to the software that must exist in
order to properly conduct the test)
E supplementary information that will aid in
understanding or implementing the test.

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Problems in testing OO software

Testing shall report errors
accessing the internal state of
objects
z Encapsulation hides internal things
z Inheritance: test cases of the superclass may
may have to be adapted
z

OOT methods: Use case based

testing
Concentrates on what the user does NOT what
the system does
z Based on use cases
z Described by
z

ya

test

y specific

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

OOT methods: random testing

z

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

OOT methods: partition testing (1)

z

random testing

identify a minimum test sequence

x an

operation sequence that defines the minimum life history of the

object

generate a variety of random (but valid) test sequences

xcategorize

and test operations based on their

ability to change the state of a class

x exercise other (more complex) class instance life histories

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Partition testing
attribute-based partitioning
xcategorize

and test operations based on the

attributes that they use

category-based partitioning
xcategorize

and test operations based on the

generic function each performs e.g.

Partition testing
reduces the number of test cases required to
test a class in much the same way as
equivalence partitioning for conventional
software
state-based partitioning

identify operations applicable to a class

define constraints on their use

OOT methods: partition testing (2)

user needs

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

State diagram based testing

Use state diagram to determine a sequence of
events
z Tests should cover all states
z All transitions should be tested at least once
z Test invalid events
z

initialization
state changing
queries
termination

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

OOT methods: Inter-class testing (1)

z

Inter-class testing

OOT methods: Inter-class testing (2)

z

For each client class, use the list of class operators to

generate a series of random test sequences. The
operators will send messages to other server
classes.
For each message that is generated, determine the
collaborator class and the corresponding operator
in the server object.

Inter-class testing
For each operator in the server object (that has been
invoked by messages sent from the client object)
determine the messages that it transmits.
For each of the messages, determine the next level
of operators that are invoked and incorporate these
into the test sequence

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Test case document

Class test cases

1. Usual cover information

2. Class test cases
3. Use case test descriptions
4. References
5. Appendices

For every class in your system

y at

least one test case for

xthe

normal behavior of every public method

xthe

exceptions of every public method

xevery state transition of the class
xinvalid

state transitions of the class

y white-box test cases for important methods

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Use case test descriptions

z

For every use case/sequence diagram in the

design document
test case that shows that the use case can be
executed by the system

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Executing tests
z

y main method of class executes the class test

y class

ya

xdescribe

y test

cases for all exceptions of the use case

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

methods define (sets of) tests

Use case tests

y develop

the objects that get messages from the UI

xlist

the messages that are send from the UI to define the

test cases

Develop automatic test drivers for every class

y test

test classes that execute the use cases

the use cases manually with UI

System test driver calls all class test drivers

and all use case test classes
ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Implementing test cases

z

Debugging: Symptoms & causes

Test driver code must

y create

the system state described in the test case

y call the method to test
y check if the expected result is produced
y print test result to file/console e.g.

Symptom may disappear when another

problem is fixed

Cause may be due to a combination of nonerrors

Cause may be due to a system or compiler
error
Cause may be due to assumptions that
everyone believes
Symptom may be intermittent

y count

ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering

Symptom and cause may be separated

Class: ResourcePool
method: addAgent
test case: No. 265 - tests exception of the method
result: failed

the number of successful/failed test to produce a

summary result at the end

symptom

cause
ECE 452 - Introduction to Software Engineering