An Enhanced Software Quality Testing Approach Using Metamorphic Testing Technique

Authors

  • Mohammed Abdalla Osman Mukhtar Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Alzaiem Alazhari University, Sudan
  • Nisreen Beshir Osman Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Bayan University. P.O. Box 210, Khartoum, Sudan
  • Sulieman Ibrahim S. Bahar Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Geneina University, Sudan

Keywords:

Software Quality, Metamorphic Testing Technique

Abstract

The software testing process plays an important role in improving the quality of the software product. The product or program which is free from errors greatly contributes to assuring the quality of the software. An oracle in software testing is a person (tester) who performs the testing process. The oracle problem is the difficulty of determining the expected outcomes of selected test cases. A tester (oracle) may not always be available, or might be available but the process is too expensive and difficult to apply. The research presented in this paper proposes an approach for reducing the effect of the oracle problem during testing software and hence enhancing the quality of testing. Metamorphic Testing (MT) approach has been introduced and applied to generate a follow-up test case for multiple executions of program under test and verify the result automatically.  An experimental method has been used to explain the mechanism of work for (MT). JUNIT tool which supports MT has been used to apply selected case studies (trigonometric function, geometric shapes classification, booking web service). The obtained results showed a good enhancement in the testing process. The importance of this research lies in overcoming oracle problem or alleviates it and thus, the research contributes to knowledge the domain by guiding researchers to use the metamorphic method because of its great advantages, as well as evaluating the effect of metamorphic method through empirical studies.

References

Z. H. I. Q. Zhou, “Metamorphic Testing?: A Review of Challenges and Opportunities,” vol. 000, no. 000, 2017.

Z. Q. Zhou, D. Huang, T. Tse, Z. Yang, H. Huang, and T. Chen, “Metamorphic testing and its applications,” Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Future Software Technology (ISFST 2004), 2004.

“Case Studies on the Selection of Useful Relations in Metamorphic Testing ?.pdf.” .

E. Fuchs, Quality: Theory and Practice, vol. 65, no. 2. 1986.

“V-model – Software Testing Watch This Video.”

C. Murphy, “Metamorphic Testing Techniques to Detect Defects in Applications without Test Oracles,” 2010.

T. Y. Chen, F. C. Kuo, D. Towey, and Z. Q. Zhou, “Metamorphic testing: Applications and integration with other methods: Tutorial synopsis,” in Proceedings - International Conference on Quality Software, 2012, pp. 285–288.

J. Chen, Y. Wang, Y. Guo, and M. Jiang, A metamorphic testing approach for event sequences, vol. 14, no. 2. 2019.

S. K. Yong, “Cost-effective Metamorphic Testing Techniques for Failure Detection in Software with Oracle Problem,” 2015.

Z. Q. Zhou, S. Xiang, and T. Y. Chen, “Metamorphic Testing for Software Quality Assessment?: A Study of Search Engines,” no. January, 2015.

W. K. Chan, T. Y. Chen, H. Lu, and S. S. Yau, “A Metamorphic Approach to Integration Testing of Context-Sensitive Middleware-Based Applications ?,” 2005.

C. Aruna and R. S. R. Prasad, “MTAF?: A Testing Framework for Metamorphic Testing Automation MTAF?: A Testing Framework for Metamorphic Testing Automation,” no. September 2015, 2017.

S. Segura, “Metamorphic Testing 20 Years Later?: A Hands-on Introduction,” pp. 3–6, 2018.

C. Murphy, G. Kaiser, and L. Hu, “Properties of Machine Learning Applications for Use in Metamorphic Testing.”

T. Y. Chen, F. Kuo, R. Merkel, and W. K. Tam, “Testing an Open Source Suite for Open Queuing Network Modelling Using Metamorphic Testing Technique Testing an Open Source Suite for Open Queuing Network Modelling using Metamorphic Testing Technique,” no. April 2014, 2009.

F. Kuo, T. Y. Chen, and W. K. Tam, “Testing Embedded Software by Metamorphic Testing?: a Wireless Metering System Case Study,” pp. 291–294, 2011.

S. C. C. and K. R. P. H. L. W. K. Chan †‡, “Towards a Metamorphic Testing Methodology for Service-Oriented Software Applications ?.pdf.” .

“Automated Metamorphic Testing on the Analyses of Feature Models?.pdf.” .

A. Goffi, “Automatic Generation of Cost-Effective Test Oracles Categories and Subject Descriptors.”

L. Xu, D. Towey, A. P. French, S. Benford, and T. Y. Chen, “Enhancing Supervised Classifications with Metamorphic Relations,” 2018.

D. Peters and D. L. Parnas, “Generating a Test Oracle from Program Documentation work in progress.”

J. Ding, T. Wu, J. Q. Lu, and X. Hu, “Self-Checked Metamorphic Testing of an Image Processing Program Self-Checked Metamorphic Testing of an Image Processing Program,” no. August, 2017.

Downloads

Published

2023-01-02

How to Cite

Mohammed Abdalla Osman Mukhtar, Nisreen Beshir Osman, & Sulieman Ibrahim S. Bahar. (2023). An Enhanced Software Quality Testing Approach Using Metamorphic Testing Technique. International Journal of Computer (IJC), 45(1), 151–163. Retrieved from https://www.ijcjournal.org/index.php/InternationalJournalOfComputer/article/view/2002

Issue

Vol. 45 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 International Journal of Computer (IJC)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors who submit papers with this journal agree to the following terms.