Reduction-based methods and metrics for selective regression testing

Abstract

In corrective maintenance, modified software is regression tested using selected test cases in order to ensure that the modifications have not caused adverse effects. This activity of selective regression testing involves regression test selection, which refers to selecting test cases from the previously run test suite, and test-coverage identification. In this paper, we propose three test-selection methods and two coverage identification metrics. The three methods aim to reduce the number of selected test cases for retesting the modified software. The first method, referred to as modification-based reduction version 1 (MBR1), selects a reduced number of test cases based on the modification made and its effects in the software. The second method, referred to as modification-based reduction version 2 (MBR2) improves MBR1 by further omitting tests that do not cover the modification. The third method, referred to as precise reduction (PR), reduces the number of test cases selected by omitting non-modification-revealing tests from the initial test suite. The two coverage metrics are McCabe-based regression test metrics, which are referred to as the Reachability regression Test selection McCabe-based metric (RTM), and data-flow Slices regression Test McCabe-based metric (STM). These metrics aim to assist the regression tester in monitoring test-coverage adequacy, reveal any shortage or redundancy in the test suite, and assist in identifying, where additional tests may be required for regression testing. We empirically compare MBR1, MBR2, and PR with three reduction and precision-oriented methods on 60 test-problems. The results show that PR selects the least number of test cases most of the time and omits non-modification-revealing tests. We also demonstrate the applicability of our proposed methods to object-oriented regression testing at the class level. Further, we illustrate typical application of the RTM and STM metrics using the 60 test-problems and two coverage-oriented selective regression-testing methods.