arXivDaily arXiv每日学术速递 周一至周五更新
arXiv 2001.06652cs.SE
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软件分析中的边界值探索

Boundary Value Exploration for Software Analysis

Felix Dobslaw, Francisco Gomes de Oliveira Neto, Robert Feldt

摘要:

为了使软件可靠和有弹性,人们普遍认为测试必须与软件本身一起创建和维护。防止代码中的漏洞和故障的一个保护措施是确保输入空间子域之间的边界上的正确行为。所谓的边界值分析(BVA)和边界值测试(BVT)技术的目的是行使这些边界,提高测试的有效性。然而,BVA和BVT本身的概念通常没有很好的定义,并且不清楚如何识别相关的子域,因此,在给定规范的情况下,不清楚描绘它们的边界。这限制了采用并阻碍了自动化。我们澄清BVA和BVT,并引入边界值探索(BVE)来描述通过帮助检测和识别边界输入来支持它们的技术。此外,我们提出了两个具体的BVE技术的基础上的信息理论的距离函数:(i)边界检测算法和(ii)使用软件可视化来探索测试中的软件的行为,并确定其边界行为。作为初步评估,我们将这些技术应用于一个常用的和经过良好测试的数据处理库。我们的研究结果揭示了我们的技术所强调的边界上的可疑行为。总之,我们认为,边界值探索,我们的技术使自动边界值分析和测试,促进其更广泛的使用,提高测试的有效性和效率的一步。

英文摘要:

For software to be reliable and resilient, it is widely accepted that tests must be created and maintained alongside the software itself. One safeguard from vulnerabilities and failures in code is to ensure correct behavior on the boundaries between the input space sub-domains. So-called boundary value analysis (BVA) and boundary value testing (BVT) techniques aim to exercise those boundaries and increase test effectiveness. However, the concepts of BVA and BVT themselves are not generally well defined, and it is not clear how to identify relevant sub-domains, and thus the boundaries delineating them, given a specification. This has limited adoption and hindered automation. We clarify BVA and BVT and introduce Boundary Value Exploration (BVE) to describe techniques that support them by helping to detect and identify boundary inputs. Additionally, we propose two concrete BVE techniques based on information-theoretic distance functions: (i) an algorithm for boundary detection and (ii) the usage of software visualization to explore the behavior of the software under test and identify its boundary behavior. As an initial evaluation, we apply these techniques on a much used and well-tested date handling library. Our results reveal questionable behavior at boundaries highlighted by our techniques. In conclusion, we argue that the boundary value exploration that our techniques enable is a step towards automated boundary value analysis and testing, fostering their wider use and improving test effectiveness and efficiency.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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