Software Testing Techniques

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Software Testing Fundamentals
3. White Box Testing
1. The Nature of Software Defects
2. Basis Path Testing
1. Flow Graphs
2. The Basis Set
3. Deriving Test Cases
4. Automating Basis Set Derivation
3. Loop Testing
1. Simple Loops
2. Nested Loops
3. Concatenated Loops
4. Unstructured Loops
4. Other White Box Techniques
4. Black Box Testing
1. Introduction
2. Equivalence Partitioning
3. Boundary Value Analysis
4. Cause-Effect Graphing Techniques

Introduction
Because of the fallibility of its human designers and its own
abstract, complex nature, software development must be
accompanied by quality assurance activities. It is not unusual
for developers to spend 40% of the total project time on
testing. For life-critical software (e.g. flight control, reactor
monitoring), testing can cost 3 to 5 times as much as all other
activities combined. The destructive nature of testing requires
that the developer discard preconceived notions of the
correctness of his/her developed software.
Software Testing Fundamentals
Testing objectives include

1. Testing is a process of executing a program with the intent of finding an

error.
2. A good test case is one that has a high probability of finding an as yet
undiscovered error.
3. A successful test is one that uncovers an as yet undiscovered error.

Testing should systematically uncover different classes of

errors in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum
amount of effort. A secondary benefit of testing is that it
demonstrates that the software appears to be working as
stated in the specifications. The data collected through testing
can also provide an indication of the software's reliability and
quality. But, testing cannot show the absence of defect -- it can
only show that software defects are present.

White Box Testing

White box testing is a test case design method that uses the
control structure of the procedural design to derive test cases.
Test cases can be derived that

1. guarantee that all independent paths within a module have been

exercised at least once,
2. exercise all logical decisions on their true and false sides,
3. execute all loops at their boundaries and within their operational bounds,
and
4. exercise internal data structures to ensure their validity.

The Nature of Software Defects

Logic errors and incorrect assumptions are inversely

proportional to the probability that a program path will be
executed. General processing tends to be well understood
while special case processing tends to be prone to errors.
We often believe that a logical path is not likely to be executed
when it may be executed on a regular basis. Our unconscious
assumptions about control flow and data lead to design errors
that can only be detected by path testing.
Typographical errors are random.

Basis Path Testing

This method enables the designer to derive a logical

complexity measure of a procedural design and use it as a
guide for defining a basis set of execution paths. Test cases
that exercise the basis set are guaranteed to execute every
statement in the program at least once during testing.

Flow Graphs

Flow graphs can be used to represent control flow in a program

and can help in the derivation of the basis set. Each flow graph
node represents one or more procedural statements. The
edges between nodes represent flow of control. An edge must
terminate at a node, even if the node does not represent any
useful procedural statements. A region in a flow graph is an
area bounded by edges and nodes. Each node that contains a
condition is called a predicate node. Cyclomatic complexity is a
metric that provides a quantitative measure of the logical
complexity of a program. It defines the number of independent
paths in the basis set and thus provides an upper bound for the
number of tests that must be performed.

The Basis Set

An independent path is any path through a program that

introduces at least one new set of processing statements (must
move along at least one new edge in the path). The basis set is
not unique. Any number of different basis sets can be derived
for a given procedural design. Cyclomatic complexity, V(G), for
a flow graph G is equal to

1. The number of regions in the flow graph.

2. V(G) = E - N + 2 where E is the number of edges and N is the number of
nodes.
3. V(G) = P + 1 where P is the number of predicate nodes.

Deriving Test Cases

 1. From the design or source code, derive a flow graph.
2. Determine the cyclomatic complexity of this flow graph.
o Even without a flow graph, V(G) can be determined by counting
the number of conditional statements in the code.
3. Determine a basis set of linearly independent paths.
o Predicate nodes are useful for determining the necessary paths.
4. Prepare test cases that will force execution of each path in the basis set.
o Each test case is executed and compared to the expected results.

Automating Basis Set Derivation

The derivation of the flow graph and the set of basis paths is
amenable to automation. A software tool to do this can be
developed using a data structure called a graph matrix. A
graph matrix is a square matrix whose size is equivalent to the
number of nodes in the flow graph. Each row and column
correspond to a particular node and the matrix corresponds to
the connections (edges) between nodes. By adding a link
weight to each matrix entry, more information about the
control flow can be captured. In its simplest form, the link
weight is 1 if an edge exists and 0 if it does not. But other
types of link weights can be represented:

• the probability that an edge will be executed,

• the processing time expended during link traversal,
• the memory required during link traversal, or
• the resources required during link traversal.

Graph theory algorithms can be applied to these graph

matrices to help in the analysis necessary to produce the basis
set.

Loop Testing

This white box technique focuses exclusively on the validity of

loop constructs. Four different classes of loops can be defined:

1. simple loops,
2. nested loops,
3. concatenated loops, and
4. unstructured loops.
Simple Loops

The following tests should be applied to simple loops where n

is the maximum number of allowable passes through the loop:

1. skip the loop entirely,

2. only pass once through the loop,
3. m passes through the loop where m < n,
4. n - 1, n, n + 1 passes through the loop.

Nested Loops

The testing of nested loops cannot simply extend the

technique of simple loops since this would result in a
geometrically increasing number of test cases. One approach
for nested loops:

1. Start at the innermost loop. Set all other loops to minimum values.
2. Conduct simple loop tests for the innermost loop while holding the outer
loops at their minimums. Add tests for out-of-range or excluded values.
3. Work outward, conducting tests for the next loop while keeping all other
outer loops at minimums and other nested loops to typical values.
4. Continue until all loops have been tested.

Concatenated Loops

Concatenated loops can be tested as simple loops if each loop

is independent of the others. If they are not independent (e.g.
the loop counter for one is the loop counter for the other), then
the nested approach can be used.

Unstructured Loops

This type of loop should be redesigned not tested!!!

Other White Box Techniques

Other white box testing techniques include:

1. Condition testing
o exercises the logical conditions in a program.
2. Data flow testing
 o selects test paths according to the locations of definitions and uses
of variables in the program.

Black Box Testing

Introduction

Black box testing attempts to derive sets of inputs that will

fully exercise all the functional requirements of a system. It is
not an alternative to white box testing. This type of testing
attempts to find errors in the following categories:

1. incorrect or missing functions,

2. interface errors,
3. errors in data structures or external database access,
4. performance errors, and
5. initialization and termination errors.

Tests are designed to answer the following questions:

1. How is the function's validity tested?

2. What classes of input will make good test cases?
3. Is the system particularly sensitive to certain input values?
4. How are the boundaries of a data class isolated?
5. What data rates and data volume can the system tolerate?
6. What effect will specific combinations of data have on system
operation?

White box testing should be performed early in the testing

process, while black box testing tends to be applied during
later stages. Test cases should be derived which

1. reduce the number of additional test cases that must be designed to

achieve reasonable testing, and
2. tell us something about the presence or absence of classes of errors,
rather than an error associated only with the specific test at hand.

Equivalence Partitioning

This method divides the input domain of a program into classes

of data from which test cases can be derived. Equivalence
partitioning strives to define a test case that uncovers classes
of errors and thereby reduces the number of test cases
needed. It is based on an evaluation of equivalence classes for
an input condition. An equivalence class represents a set of
valid or invalid states for input conditions.
Equivalence classes may be defined according to the following
guidelines:

1. If an input condition specifies a range, one valid and two invalid

equivalence classes are defined.
2. If an input condition requires a specific value, then one valid and two
invalid equivalence classes are defined.
3. If an input condition specifies a member of a set, then one valid and one
invalid equivalence class are defined.
4. If an input condition is boolean, then one valid and one invalid
equivalence class are defined.

Boundary Value Analysis

This method leads to a selection of test cases that exercise

boundary values. It complements equivalence partitioning
since it selects test cases at the edges of a class. Rather than
focusing on input conditions solely, BVA derives test cases from
the output domain also. BVA guidelines include:

1. For input ranges bounded by a and b, test cases should include values a
and b and just above and just below a and b respectively.
2. If an input condition specifies a number of values, test cases should be
developed to exercise the minimum and maximum numbers and values
just above and below these limits.
3. Apply guidelines 1 and 2 to the output.
4. If internal data structures have prescribed boundaries, a test case should
be designed to exercise the data structure at its boundary.

Cause-Effect Graphing Techniques

Cause-effect graphing is a technique that provides a concise

representation of logical conditions and corresponding actions.
There are four steps:

1. Causes (input conditions) and effects (actions) are listed for a module
and an identifier is assigned to each.
2. A cause-effect graph is developed.
 3. The graph is converted to a decision table.
4. Decision table rules are converted to test cases.

Author: D.A. Stacey

Date of Last Update: .