skip to main content
research-article

Introducing function extraction into software testing

Published: 31 July 2008 Publication History

Abstract

Software testing can benefit from technologies that enable evolution toward increased engineering discipline. In current practice, software developers lack practical means to determine the full functional behavior of programs under development, and even the most thorough testing can provide only partial knowledge of behaviors. Thus, effective scientific principles and engineering technology for revealing software behavior should have a positive impact on software testing. This paper describes the emerging technology of function extraction (FX) for computing the behavior of programs to the maximum extent possible with mathematical precision. We explore how the use of FX technologies can transform methods for functional verification of software. An example illustrates the value of full behavior knowledge for complete and confident assessment of software function and fitness for use. We conclude by describing a transition strategy for introducing FX technology into the development and operation of software systems.

References

[1]
Collins, R., Hevner, A., Walton, G., and Linger, R. (2008). "The Impacts of Function Extraction Technology on Program Comprehension: A Controlled Experiment," Information and Software Technology.
[2]
Hevner, A., Linger, R., Collins, R., Pleszkoch, M., Prowell, S., and Walton, G. (2005). The Impact of Function Extraction Technology on Next-Generation Software Engineering, Technical Report CMU/SEI-2005-TR-015, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
[3]
Jorgensen, P. (2002). Software Testing: A Craftsman's Approach, 2nd Edition, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL.
[4]
Linger, R., Mills, H., and Witt, B. (1979). Structured Programming: Theory and Practice, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
[5]
Linger, R. and Pleszkoch, M. (2004). "Improving Network System Security with Function Extraction Technology for Automated Calculation of Program Behavior," Proceedings of the 37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Science (HICSS35), Hawaii, IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA.
[6]
Linger, R., Pleszkoch, M., Burns, L., Hevner, A., and Walton, G. (2007). "Next-Generation Software Engineering: Function Extraction for Computation of Software Behavior," Proceedings of the 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS40), Hawaii, IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA.
[7]
Pleszkoch, M., Hausler, P., Hevner, A., and Linger, R. (1990). "Function-Theoretic Principles of Program Understanding," Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Science (HICSS35), Hawaii, IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA.
[8]
Poore, J., Mills, H., and Mutchler, D. (1993). "Planning and Certifying Software System Reliability," IEEE Software, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 88--99.
[9]
Prowell, S., Trammell, C., Linger, R., and Poore, J. (1999). Cleanroom Software Engineering: Technology and Practice, Addison Wesley, Reading, MA.
[10]
Sayre, K. and Poore, J. (2007). "Automated Testing of Generic Computational Science Libraries," Proceedings of the 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Science (HICSS40), Hawaii, IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA.
[11]
Walton, G., Longstaff, T, and Linger, R. (2006). Technology Foundations for Computational Evaluation of Security Attributes, Technical Report CMU/SEI-2006-TR-021, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
[12]
Whittaker, J. (2000). "What Is Software Testing? And Why Is It So Hard?" IEEE Software, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 70--79.

Cited By

View all

Recommendations

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems
ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems  Volume 39, Issue 3
August 2008
63 pages
ISSN:0095-0033
EISSN:1532-0936
DOI:10.1145/1390673
Issue’s Table of Contents

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 31 July 2008
Published in SIGMIS Volume 39, Issue 3

Check for updates

Author Tags

  1. function extraction
  2. program behavior
  3. software systems
  4. software testing

Qualifiers

  • Research-article

Contributors

Other Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

  • Downloads (Last 12 months)2
  • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0
Reflects downloads up to 13 Feb 2025

Other Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all
  • (2012)Function extractionScience of Computer Programming10.1016/j.scico.2010.10.00177:4(505-517)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2012
  • (2011)Evaluation of work product defects during corrective & enhancive software evolutionACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/1952712.195271642:1(59-73)Online publication date: 18-Feb-2011
  • (2011)Evaluating a Disruptive InnovationProceedings of the 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences10.1109/HICSS.2011.194(1-8)Online publication date: 4-Jan-2011
  • (2010)Computing the behavior of malwareProceedings of the Sixth Annual Workshop on Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Research10.1145/1852666.1852706(1-2)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2010
  • (2010)Method of software testing based on program understanding2010 The 2nd International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering (ICCAE)10.1109/ICCAE.2010.5451817(811-814)Online publication date: Feb-2010
  • (2009)Computing the behavior of malicious code with function extraction technologyProceedings of the 5th Annual Workshop on Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Research: Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Challenges and Strategies10.1145/1558607.1558648(1-2)Online publication date: 13-Apr-2009

View Options

Login options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

Figures

Tables

Media

Share

Share

Share this Publication link

Share on social media