Evaluating coverage based testing

Abstract

In the previous chapters, various formal testing theories have been discussed. The correctness of an implementation with respect to a model is denoted by a so-called conformance relation. Conformance relations are relations between mathematical abstractions of implementations and models. Based on these conformance relations, different testing strategies have been defined. In this chapter, we concentrate on formal objects used to select test suites. These formal objects are so-called coverage criteria. A coverage criterion is a property that a selected test suite has to satisfy. We explore to which purposes these coverage criteria can be used for. Then we concentrate on the fault detection ability of a test suite satisfying a given coverage criterion. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.