Automatic test generation for Coverage Analysis using CBMC

Abstract

Testing is the most used technique for software verification: it is easy to use and even if no error is found, it can release a set of tests certifying the (partial) correctness of the compiled system. Moreover, in order to increase the confidence of the correctness of the compiled system, it is often required that the provided set of tests covers 100% of the code. This requirement, however, substantially increases the costs associated to the testing phase, since it may involve the manual generation of tests. In this paper we show how to use a Bounded Model Checker for C programs (CBMC) as an automatic test generator for the Coverage Analysis, and we show how its use can substantially reduce the costs of the testing phase. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.