On fault classes and error detection capability of specification-based testing

Reviewer: Charles Alan Wolfe

This relatively short paper builds on earlier work by Kuhn [1] wherein he demonstrated that with respect to detectability, faults in Boolean specification form a hierarchy. The authors have extended the hierarchy and reached conclusions disproving one of Kuhn’s earlier hypotheses regarding a new fault class called missing condition faults. In Kuhn’s hypotheses, faults of this class should be hypothesized to generate efficient tests, since missing condition tests are often equivalent to variable reference faults. By means of a series of theorems, the authors demonstrate that this is not the case. Rather, the missing condition fault class must be added to the fault class hierarchy itself and independently accounted for in test planning. The paper is well written; the notation is concise and the English clear. Aside from some exposure to software testing and some of the theory behind modern testing approaches, the ability to read Boolean equations and some set-theoretic knowledge is all the interested reader needs. For those attempting to use Kuhn’s approach, or similar approaches to (semi-) automating the generation of test cases, this paper is highly recommended. Online Computing Reviews Service