An algorithm for capturing variables dependences in test suites

Abstract

The use of dynamic dependence analysis spans several areas of software research including software testing, debugging, fault localization, and security. Many of the techniques devised in these areas require the execution of large test suites in order to generate profiles that capture the dependences that occurred between given types of program elements. When the aim is to capture direct and indirect dependences between finely granular elements, such as statements and variables, this process becomes highly costly due to: (1) the large number of elements, and (2) the transitive nature of the indirect dependence relationship. The focus of this paper is on computing dynamic dependences between variables, i.e., dynamic information flow analysis or DIFA. First, because the problem of tracking dependences between statements, i.e., dynamic slicing, has already been addressed by numerous researchers. Second, because DIFA is a more difficult problem given that the number of variables in a program is unbounded. We present an algorithm that, in the context of test suite execution, leverages the already computed dependences to efficiently compute subsequent dependences within the same or later test runs. To evaluate our proposed algorithm, we conducted an empirical comparative study that contrasted it, with respect to efficiency, to three other algorithms: (1) a naïve basic algorithm, (2) a memoization based algorithm that does not leverage computed dependences from previous test runs, and (3) an algorithm that uses reduced ordered binary decision diagrams ( roBDDs) to maintain and manage dependences. The results indicated that our new DIFA algorithm performed considerably better in terms of both runtime and memory consumption.