Efficiency of Software Testing Techniques: A Controlled Experiment Replication and Network Meta-analysis
Journal Title: e-Informatica Software Engineering Journal - Year 2017, Vol 11, Issue 1
Abstract
Background. Common approaches to software verification include static testing techniques, such as code reading, and dynamic testing techniques, such as black-box and white-box testing. Objective. With the aim of gaining a better understanding of software testing techniques, a controlled experiment replication and the synthesis of previous experiments which examine the efficiency of code reading, black-box and white-box testing techniques were conducted. Method. The replication reported here is composed of four experiments in which instrumented programs were used. Participants randomly applied one of the techniques to one of the instrumented programs. The outcomes were synthesized with seven experiments using the method of network meta-analysis (NMA). Results. No significant differences in the efficiency of the techniques were observed. However, it was discovered the instrumented programs had a significant effect on the efficiency. The NMA results suggest that the black-box and white-box techniques behave alike; and the efficiency of code reading seems to be sensitive to other factors. Conclusion. Taking into account these findings, the Authors suggest that prior to carrying out software verification activities, software engineers should have a clear understanding of the software product to be verified; they can apply either black-box or white-box testing techniques as they yield similar defect detection rates.
Authors and Affiliations
Omar Gómez, Karen Cortés-Verdín, César Pardo
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP200433
- DOI 10.5277/e-Inf170104
- Views 116
- Downloads 0
NRFixer: Sentiment Based Model for Predicting the Fixability of Non-Reproducible Bugs
Software maintenance is an essential step in software development life cycle. Nowadays, software companies spend approximately 45% of total cost in maintenance activities. Large software projects maintain bug repositorie...
Malicious JavaScript Detection by Features Extraction
In recent years, JavaScript-based attacks have become one of the most common and successful types of attack. Existing techniques for detecting malicious JavaScripts could fail for different reasons. Some techniques are t...
A literature review on the effectiveness and efficiency of business modeling
Background: Achieving and maintaining a strategic competitive advantage through business and technology innovation via continually improving effectiveness and efficiency of the operations are the critical survival factor...
An Empirical Study on the Factors Affecting Software Development Productivity
Background : Software development productivity is widely investigated in the Software Engineering literature. However, continuously updated evidence on productivity is constantly needed, due to the rapid evolution of sof...
Efficiency of Software Testing Techniques: A Controlled Experiment Replication and Network Meta-analysis
Background. Common approaches to software verification include static testing techniques, such as code reading, and dynamic testing techniques, such as black-box and white-box testing. Objective. With the aim of gaining...