Testing object-oriented programs: from formal specification to test scenario generation

New problems associated with the testing and maintenance of object-oriented programs (OOPs) have been introduced with the dramatically increasing use of OOPs over the past decade. Testing OOPs beyond the class level has been rarely discussed. This paper presents an approach performing high level testing for OOPs based on formal specifications and usage profiles. The behavior of a software system is specified in an object-oriented formal specification. A state model provides a complementary representation of the dynamic behavior. In the model, a state represents the cumulative results of the system behavior. Probability distributions are used to derive the anticipated operation sequences of a program from the state model. An enhanced state transition diagram (ESTD) is used to describe the state model, which incorporates hierarchy, usage and parameter information. This paper describes the construction of state transition diagrams (STDs) based on the formal specification, and the derivation of test scenarios from the ESTD. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.