Tackling the equivalent mutant problem in real-time systems : the 12 commandments of model-based mutation testing

Mutation testing can effectively drive test generation to reveal faults in software systems. However, it faces a typical efficiency issue as it can produce many mutants that are equivalent to the original system, making it impossible to generate test cases. We consider this problem when model-based mutation testing is applied to real-time system product lines, represented as timed automata. We define novel, time-specific mutation operators and formulate the equivalent mutant problem in the frame of timed refinement relations. Further, we study in which cases a mutation yields an equivalent mutant. Our theoretical results provide guidance to system engineers, allowing them to eliminate mutations from which no test case can be produced. Our evaluation, based on a proof-of-concept tool and an industrial case from the automotive domain, confirms the validity of our theory and demonstrates that our approach can eliminate many of the equivalent mutants (88% in our case study)

Threats to the independence of student media

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the College Media Association (CMA), the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) have released a report, Threats to the Independence of Student Media, shining a light on threats to student media and reaffirming and expanding upon basic principles of a free student press. The report cites multiple cases in which college and university administrations exerted pressure in attempts to control, edit, or censor student journalistic content. This pressure has been reported in every segment of higher education and every institutional type: public and private, four-year and two-year, religious and secular. The report finds that administrative efforts to subordinate campus journalism to public relations concerns are inconsistent with the mission of higher education to foster intellectual exploration and debate. And while journalism that discusses students’ dissatisfaction with the perceived shortcomings of their institutions can be uncomfortable, it fulfills an important civic function

PloneGov as an Open Source Product Line

PloneGov.org is a recent community aiming at providing open-source software to local and regional governments. It gathers IT specialists from local and regional governments from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain and Argentina, supported by IT SMEs. Open-source communities are not used to think of development in terms of software product lines (SPLs), relying instead on the flexibility provided by source code modifications. However, if variability is not planned and managed,there is a risk that the consistency of the software deteriorates with many adaptations to local uses. We present preliminary plans to counteract this risk, and questions that we will have to address