Abstract:

Specification mutation testing analyzes the specification from the perspective of software functions, and can reveal the errors in the specification. In this paper, an approach to mutation testing based on the UML state diagram is proposed. For each mutation operator, a conflict analysis is introduced to avoid unreasonable mutation. The condition of the generation of equivalent mutants is analyzed, so these mutants can be detected in the implementation of testing, and the impact made by these mutants can be reduced. Then, the required condition of generating test cases for the mutants is also analyzed. Based on the basis, there is an integration of the operators according to the inclusion relation among them, which can reduce the cost of the mutation testing. The experiment shows that the proposed approach can improve the quality of the test cases effectively, and increase the efficiency of the mutation testing.

Key words: mutation testing;UML;state diagram;mutation operator;equivalent mutant