Orthogonal software testing: Taguchi methods in software unit and subsystem testing

Abstract

Suggests that, in order to detect and correct software defects as early as possible, identifying and generating more defect‐sensitive test cases for software unit and subsystem testing is one solution. Proposes an orthogonal software testing approach based on the quality optimization techniques, Taguchi methods. This orthogonal approach treats the input parameters of a software unit or subsystem as design factors in an orthogonal arrays, and stratifies input parameter domains into equivalent classes to form levels of factors. Describes how test cases are generated statistically for each trial of factorial orthogonal experiments. The adequacy of the generated test cases can be validated by examining testing coverage metrics. The results of test case executions can be analysed in order to find the sensibility of test cases for detecting defects, to generate more effective test cases in further testing, and to help locate and correct defects in the early stage of testing.