ISSN 1653-2090 ISBN 91-7295-089-7 Software is today used in more and different ways than ever before. From refrigerators and cars to space shuttles and smart cards. As such, most soft- ware, usually need to adhere to a specifi cation, i.e. to make sure that it does what is expected. Normally, a software engineer goes through a certain process to establish that the software follows a given specifi cation. This process, verifi ca- tion and validation (V & V), ensures that the soft- ware conforms to its specifi cation and that the customers ultimately receive what they ordered. Software testing is one of the techniques to use during V & V. To be able to use resources in a bet- ter way, computers should be able to help out in the “art of software testing” to a higher extent, than is currently the case today. One of the is- sues here is not to remove human beings from the software testing process altogether—in many ways software development is still an art form and as such pose some problems for computers to participate in—but instead let software engineers focus on problems computers are evidently bad at solving. This dissertation presents research aimed at examining, classifying and improving the concept of automated software testing and is built upon the assumption that software testing could be automated to a higher extent. Throughout this thesis an emphasis has been put on “real life” app- lications and the testing of these applications. One of the contributions in this dissertation is the research aimed at uncovering different issues with respect to automated software testing. The research is performed through a series of case studies and experiments which ultimately also leads to another contribution—a model for ex- pressing, clarifying and classifying software testing and the automated aspects thereof. An additional contribution in this thesis is the development of framework desiderata which in turns acts as a broad substratum for a framework for object message pattern analysis of intermediate code re- presentations. The results, as presented in this dissertation, shows how software testing can be improved, ex- tended and better classifi ed with respect to auto- mation aspects. The main contribution lays in the investigation of, and the improvement in, issues related to automated software testing. ABSTRACT 2006:04 Blekinge Institute of Technology Doctoral Dissertation Series No. 2006:04 School of Engineering TOWARDS AUTOMATED SOFTWARE TESTING TECHNIQUES, CLASSIFICATIONS AND FRAMEWORKS Richard Torkar TOWARDS AUTOMATED SOFTWARE TESTING Richard Torkar 2006:04 Towards Automated Software Testing Techniques, Classifications and Frameworks Richard Torkar Towards Automated Software Testing Techniques, Classifications and Frameworks Richard Torkar Blekinge Institute of Technology Doctoral Dissertation Series No 2006:04 ISSN 1653-2090 ISBN 91-7295-089-7 Department of Systems and Software Engineering School of Engineering Blekinge Institute of Technology SWEDEN © 2006 Richard Torkar Department of Systems and Software Engineering School of Engineering Publisher: Blekinge Institute of Technology Printed by Kaserntryckeriet, Karlskrona, Sweden 2006 ISBN 91-7295-089-7 To my father The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” but rather, “Hmm. . . that’s funny. . . ” Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992) v vi ABSTRACT Software is today used in more and different ways than ever before. From refrigerators and cars to space shuttles and smart cards. As such, most software, usually need to adhere to a specification, i.e. to make sure that it does what is expected. Normally, a software engineer goes through a certain process to establish that the software follows a given specification. This process, verification and validation (V & V), ensures that the software conforms to its specification and that the customers ultimately receive what they ordered. Software testing is one of the techniques to use during V & V. To be able to use resources in a better way, computers should be able to help out in the “art of software testing” to a higher extent, than is currently the case today. One of the issues here is not to remove human beings from the software testing process altogether—in many ways software development is still an art form and as such pose some problems for computers to participate in—but instead let software engineers focus on problems computers are evidently bad at solving. This dissertation presents research aimed at examining, classifying and improving the concept of automated software testing and is built upon the assumption that soft- ware testing could be automated to a higher extent. Throughout this thesis an emphasis has been put on “real life” applications and the testing of these applications. One of the contributions in this dissertation is the research aimed at uncovering different issues with respect to automated software testing. The research is performed through a series of case studies and experiments which ultimately also leads to an- other contribution—a model for expressing, clarifying and classifying software testing and the automated aspects thereof. An additional contribution in this thesis is the de- velopment of framework desiderata which in turns acts as a broad substratum for a framework for object message pattern analysis of intermediate code representations. The results, as presented in this dissertation, shows how software testing can be improved, extended and better classified with respect to automation aspects. The main contribution lays in the investigation of, and the improvement in, issues related to au- tomated software testing. vii viii . 2006:04 Towards Automated Software Testing Techniques, Classifications and Frameworks Richard Torkar Towards Automated Software Testing Techniques, Classifications. of Engineering TOWARDS AUTOMATED SOFTWARE TESTING TECHNIQUES, CLASSIFICATIONS AND FRAMEWORKS Richard Torkar TOWARDS AUTOMATED SOFTWARE TESTING Richard