Sequence mining for automatic generation of software tests from GUI event traces

In today’s software industry, systems are constantly changing. To maintain their quality and to prevent failures at controlled costs is a challenge. One way to foster quality is through thorough and systematic testing. Therefore, the definition of adequate tests is crucial for saving time, cost and effort. This paper presents a framework that generates software test cases automatically based on user interaction data. We propose a data-driven software test generation solution that combines the use of frequent sequence mining and Markov chain modeling. We assess the quality of the generated test cases by empirically evaluating their coverage with respect to observed user interactions and code. We also measure the plausibility of the distribution of the events in the generated test sets using the Kullback-Leibler divergence.This work is financed by the Northern Regional Operational Program, Portugal 2020 and the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund (https://www.rtcom.pt/wordpress/rute-randtech-update-and-test-environment/). Also, this work is financed by National Funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, within project UIDB/50014/2020

Software quality assessment using fuzzy parametric characteristics

The article is devoted to the problem of software quality assessment during the trial operation stage. The developed approach is based on the hierarchy of quality assessment parameters according to GOST 28195-8

An Empirical Investigation of Pull Requests in Partially Distributed BizDevOps Teams

In globally distributed projects, virtual teams are often partially dispersed. One common setup occurs when several members from one company work with a large outsourcing vendor based in another country. Further, the introduction of the popular BizDevOps concept has increased the necessity to cooperate across departments and reduce the age-old disconnection between the business strategy and technical development. Establishing a good collaboration in partially distributed BizDevOps teams requires extensive collaboration and communication techniques. Nowadays, a common approach is to rely on collaboration through pull requests and frequent communication on Slack. To investigate barriers for pull requests in distributed teams, we examined an organization located in Scandinavia where cross-functional BizDevOps teams collaborated with off-site team members in India. Data were collected by conducting 14 interviews, observing 23 entire days with the team, and observing 37 meetings. We found that the pull-request approach worked very well locally but not across sites. We found barriers such as domain complexity, different agile processes (timeboxed vs. flow-based development), and employee turnover. Using an intellectual capital lens on our findings, we discuss barriers and positive and negative effects on the success of the pull-request approach

Propuesta de aplicación de nuevos enfoques de análisis de competencias y perfiles profesionales digitales

El objetivo principal de esta tesis es proponer un nuevo enfoque para el análisis de competencias y perfiles profesionales en el ámbito de las tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (TIC). La revisión de los métodos de investigación de las contribuciones existentes en el área revela limitaciones y oportunidades de mejora de los resultados del análisis de perfile TIC. Los principales problemas detectados que provocan baja precisión y representatividad en los resultados de análisis de perfiles profesionales son: a) ausencia de terminología y conceptos homogéneos y bien definidos vinculados a modelos o marcos competenciales estándar o ampliamente aceptados, b) limitaciones en la variedad de las fuentes de información y de tamaño y representatividad de los conjuntos de datos para el análisis, c) limitaciones en el diseño y la eficiencia de la recogida de datos, excesivamente basada en métodos manuales y d) análisis excesivamente básico de los datos recogidos con cuestionarios. Por suerte, especialmente en la Unión Europea, el marco de referencia laboral europea ESCO y el estándar EN16234 permiten contar con una terminología homogénea y bien definida en cuanto a competencias, habilidades, conocimientos y actitudes para perfiles profesionales TIC. El modelo Skills Match resultante de un proyecto europeo ofrece una sólida referencia para soft skills. La herramienta OVATE de CEDEFOP permite el análisis de millones de ofertas de trabajo en línea con terminología ESCO y la replicación de la base de datos de ESCO permite consultas sofisticadas de la información de esta clasificación para los perfiles TIC. La aplicación de estas opciones y de otras mejoras metodológicas ha permitido confirmar la mejora de los análisis presentados en tres publicaciones de impacto, con mayor representatividad y tamaño de los datos, una estrecha vinculación a los modelos de referencia existentes y una generación de resultados más sofisticados en forma de marcos competenciales. Gracias a esta confirmación se abre una línea de trabajo para ampliar el alcance y la solidez de los estudios de los perfiles profesionales TIC

The skills that employers look for in software testers

Software testing is an integral part of software development that provides better-quality products and user experiences and helps build the reputation of software companies. Though software testers perform a role that requires specific tasks and skills, in-depth studies of software testers lag behind research studies of other roles within software development teams. In this paper, we aim to create a profile of testers by presenting an empirical analysis of the skills the industry currently needs. We analysed data from 400 job adverts in 33 countries. We mapped the skills on a taxonomy comprising test-related, technical, and domain-specific skills. In addition, we looked at the demand for educational attainment, relevant certifications, and previous experience requirements. Our findings show that employers are mostly interested in skills related to test planning and design, test automation, functional testing, performance testing, and progress reporting. One third of the job advertisers were interested in people with the skills to operate test execution tools. Selenium was the testing tool most in demand. The testers must have strong technical abilities, including programming skills in Java, C#, and SQL. Also, they must handle project management tasks such as estimation, risk management, and quality assurance. Employers do not emphasise domain-specific knowledge, which indicates that they consider testing skills portable across industries. One in seven job adverts asks for a software testing certification. Our study helps clarify the complexity of the testing job and outlines the capabilities one needs to fulfil a software tester’s responsibilities

Thesis title: Crowdsourced Testing Approach For Mobile Compatibility Testing

The frequent release of mobile devices and operating system versions bring several compatibility issues to mobile applications. This thesis addresses fragmentation-induced compatibility issues. The thesis comprises three main phases. The first of these involves an in-depth review of relevant literature that identifies the main challenges of existing compatibility testing approaches. The second phase reflects on the conduction of an in-depth exploratory study on Android/iOS developers in academia and industry to gain further insight into their actual needs in testing environments whilst gauging their willingness to work with public testers with varied experience. The third phase relates to implementing a new manual crowdtesting approach that supports large-scale distribution of tests and execution by public testers and real users on a larger number of devices in a short time. The approach is designed based on a direct crowdtesting workflow to bridge the communication gap between developers and testers. The approach supports performing the three dimensions of compatibility testing. This approach helps explore different behaviours of the app and the users of the app to identify all compatibility issues. Two empirical evaluation studies were conducted on iOS/Android developers and testers to gauge developers' and testers' perspectives regarding the benefits, satisfaction, and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Our findings show that the approach is effective and improves on current state-of-the-art approaches. The findings also show that the approach met the several unmet needs of different groups of developers and testers. The evaluation proved that the different groups of developers and testers were satisfied with the approach. Importantly, the level of satisfaction was especially high in small and medium-sized enterprises that have limited access to traditional testing infrastructures, which are instead present in large enterprises. This is the first research that provides insights for future research into the actual needs of each group of developers and testers