Finite state testing of structured programs

Abstract

The research reported in this paper is concerned with the testing of software which is being developed in a structured way. The advantages which accrue from a well structured or modular organisation of software depend upon an ability to independently test a module well before the full development of all the modules with which it communicates. This paper describes a technique (finite state testing) which effectively organises data objects into equivalence classes and exercises a module using a representative of each class. As a technique it has an affinity with both the type checking performed by a conventional compiler and the assertion checking performed by a so-called verifying compiler. It is however a practical technique which has been used in experimental systems and is being incorporated in a prototype program development system.