Evaluating Random Mutant Selection at Class-Level in Projects with Non-Adequate Test Suites

Mutation testing is a standard technique to evaluate the quality of a test suite. Due to its computationally intensive nature, many approaches have been proposed to make this technique feasible in real case scenarios. Among these approaches, uniform random mutant selection has been demonstrated to be simple and promising. However, works on this area analyze mutant samples at project level mainly on projects with adequate test suites. In this paper, we fill this lack of empirical validation by analyzing random mutant selection at class level on projects with non-adequate test suites. First, we show that uniform random mutant selection underachieves the expected results. Then, we propose a new approach named weighted random mutant selection which generates more representative mutant samples. Finally, we show that representative mutant samples are larger for projects with high test adequacy.Comment: EASE 2016, Article 11 , 10 page

Video Game Development in a Rush: A Survey of the Global Game Jam Participants

Video game development is a complex endeavor, often involving complex software, large organizations, and aggressive release deadlines. Several studies have reported that periods of "crunch time" are prevalent in the video game industry, but there are few studies on the effects of time pressure. We conducted a survey with participants of the Global Game Jam (GGJ), a 48-hour hackathon. Based on 198 responses, the results suggest that: (1) iterative brainstorming is the most popular method for conceptualizing initial requirements; (2) continuous integration, minimum viable product, scope management, version control, and stand-up meetings are frequently applied development practices; (3) regular communication, internal playtesting, and dynamic and proactive planning are the most common quality assurance activities; and (4) familiarity with agile development has a weak correlation with perception of success in GGJ. We conclude that GGJ teams rely on ad hoc approaches to development and face-to-face communication, and recommend some complementary practices with limited overhead. Furthermore, as our findings are similar to recommendations for software startups, we posit that game jams and the startup scene share contextual similarities. Finally, we discuss the drawbacks of systemic "crunch time" and argue that game jam organizers are in a good position to problematize the phenomenon.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Game

Rapid Releases and Testing Problems at the industry: A survey

Rapid releases and continuous software development are established practices in modern agile projects. The advantages of them are widely known across the software development community, but there are some studies which mention that there are still challenges to face. According to them, there are different open issues which are affecting the implementation of an adequate testing process. With the aim of validating if these problems are present in real projects, in this paper we present the results of a survey whose goal was to validate whether the industry is experiencing similar issues and their causes. The findings demonstrate that both the industry and academic side are aligned, and that there is still a need for processes and tools regarding the testing process in continuous development.XVI Workshop Ingeniería de Software.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Rapid Releases and Testing Problems at the industry: A survey

Rapid releases and continuous software development are established practices in modern agile projects. The advantages of them are widely known across the software development community, but there are some studies which mention that there are still challenges to face. According to them, there are different open issues which are affecting the implementation of an adequate testing process. With the aim of validating if these problems are present in real projects, in this paper we present the results of a survey whose goal was to validate whether the industry is experiencing similar issues and their causes. The findings demonstrate that both the industry and academic side are aligned, and that there is still a need for processes and tools regarding the testing process in continuous development.XVI Workshop Ingeniería de Software.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Rapid Releases and Testing Problems at the industry: A survey

Rapid releases and continuous software development are established practices in modern agile projects. The advantages of them are widely known across the software development community, but there are some studies which mention that there are still challenges to face. According to them, there are different open issues which are affecting the implementation of an adequate testing process. With the aim of validating if these problems are present in real projects, in this paper we present the results of a survey whose goal was to validate whether the industry is experiencing similar issues and their causes. The findings demonstrate that both the industry and academic side are aligned, and that there is still a need for processes and tools regarding the testing process in continuous development.XVI Workshop Ingeniería de Software.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Goal-Oriented Mutation Testing with Focal Methods

Mutation testing is the state-of-the-art technique for assessing the fault-detection capacity of a test suite. Unfortunately, mutation testing consumes enormous computing resources because it runs the whole test suite for each and every injected mutant. In this paper we explore fine-grained traceability links at method level (named focal methods), to reduce the execution time of mutation testing and to verify the quality of the test cases for each individual method, instead of the usually verified overall test suite quality. Validation of our approach on the open source Apache Ant project shows a speed-up of 573.5x for the mutants located in focal methods with a quality score of 80%.Comment: A-TEST 201

An Empirical Investigation of Software Testing Methods and Techniques in the Province of Vojvodina

A high-quality test design is a conditio sine qua non of successful software testing process, and its effectiveness depends, among other things, on the choice and proper use of appropriate methods and relevant software testing techniques. The main goal of this study was to provide insight into the use of current methods and relevant software testing techniques used in the test design phase of software testing process in software companies in the Province of Vojvodina. The empirical study was conducted by a survey research strategy in twenty-four software organisations. Eighty-three respondents took part in the survey. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, the multidimensional scaling, binomial test and Cohran\u27s Q test were used for analyzing gathered quantitative data. The survey results have shown that respondents use to a significant extent the techniques belonging to ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 testing standard. Comparison of the gathered data with individual results of similar studies conducted in Canada, Australia and Turkey has shown similarities between them and companies in the Province of Vojvodina. The findings of this study present empirically verified recommendations for testing design phase realization in the form of least and most used software testing methods and techniques, their benefits, limitations and details in application, similarities between software testing techniques, software testing techniques clusters and the probability of use of individual techniques