Abstract
There exist many automated unit test-generator tools for Java with the primary task of generating test cases, comprised of inputs and a corresponding oracle, each of which is explicitly paired with a specific supporting test implementation. The authors posit that this explicit pairing, or conflating, of test implementation with test case is unnecessary and counter-productive. The authors address this problem by separating the conflated concerns into two distinct tasks: 1) instantiating test implementations and 2) instantiating test cases. This paper focuses on automating the first task in support of the second with the goal of freeing the test engineer to concentrate on test case instantiation. The authors present a new open-source test-preparation tool Obsidian that produces robust, comprehensive, and maintainable unit test implementations. Obsidian, built on the JUnit framework, uses a set of context patterns and associated algorithms combined with information from the Java Reflection API to generate these unit test implementations from Java byte code. These context patterns guide Obsidian to prepare test implementations that guarantee compilation, support exception handling, enable multiple test cases when required, and provide a suitable location for assertions about the test case outcome(s). Obsidian supports regression testing and test-driven development through its novel audits of the testing process.
Highlights
The software-process models extreme programming [1] and test-driven development [2] have inspired software test engineers to automate unit-testing tasks
This paper focuses on automating the first task in support of the second through the generation of robust and complete test implementations in Java, freeing the test engineer to concentrate on test case instantiation
We presented Obsidian as a new testing tool for Java programs that automatically generates comprehensive unit test implementations built on the JUnit 4 framework and guided by a set of four context patterns
Summary
The software-process models extreme programming [1] and test-driven development [2] have inspired software test engineers to automate unit-testing tasks. Obsidian uses the Java Reflection API [4] in concert with a set of context patterns, abstracted from basic method signatures, to generate test implementations from Java byte code. These implementations support multiple test cases consisting of input and outcome data. These data can be generated by hand or by automation and inserted into an Obsidian-prescribed location within the test implementation. A context pattern specifies how to prepare the test implementation to guarantee compilation, support exception handling, enable multiple test cases when required, and provide a suitable location for assertions [5] about the test case outcome(s). As the code base under test evolves, Obsidian can track and report to the user that methods have test implementations and any class attributes that have been introduced since the last execution of Obsidian
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