2008 Reports

Using Runtime Testing to Detect Defects in Applications without Test Oracles

Murphy, Christian; Kaiser, Gail E.

It is typically infeasible to test a large, complex software system in all its possible configurations and system states prior to deployment. Moreover, some such applications have no test oracles to indicate their correctness. In my thesis, we will address these problems in two ways. First, we suggest that executing tests within the context of an application running in the field can reveal defects that would not ordinarily otherwise be found. Second, we believe that this approach can further be extended to applications for which there is no test oracle by using a variant of metamorphic testing at runtime.