Course Objectives:

This course is a study of software testing and maintenance methodologies for object-oriented, component-based, concurrent, distributed, and web software. Topics include approaches to automatic test case generation, test oracles, coverage analysis, prioritized testing, construction of tools, regression testing and impact analysis. A primary focus will be program-based software testing and maintenance approaches.

At the end of the semester, a student completing the course should have:

• a solid background knowledge of the state of the art in software testing
• a keen awareness of the open problems in software testing and maintenance
• improved skills in identifying open research problems
• skills to read, summarize, and critique a research paper, with particular attention to gaining a clear understanding of motivation, goals, approaches, limitations, contributions, and experimental evaluation methods
• ability to coherently present research material to a group of informed researchers
• ability to listen carefully to and evaluate a research presentation
• a good comfort level for participating in a discussion of a research problem and ideas for solving that problem
• skills to write a clear summary of a set of research papers, including a critique of the research that puts the research into perspective
• experience in designing, conducting, and presenting a succinct story of an experimental project

CISC 879 is an advanced graduate level course which follows a seminar-discussion format. In particular, we will be reading and discussing papers in the most recent relevant conferences and journals, as well as foundation papers. The papers fall into the following categories:

• Overview of Software Testing
• Taxonomies of techniques
• Defect and failure analysis
• Test Adequacy and Coverage
• Data flow Testing
• Test Oracles
• Regression Testing
• Test case selection
• Test case reduction
• Test case prioritization
• Comparison and evaluation of techniques
• Web testing
• GUI testing
• OOP testing
• Testing Concurrent programs
• Spreadsheet testing
• Database testing

Prerequisite: Algorithms and programming languages would be helpful.
Restrictions: Undergraduates must obtain instructor's permission.

Instructor: Lori Pollock pollock@cis.udel.edu 101D Smith Hall (831-1953)
Office Hours: Thursdays, 2:00-3:00 pm, and Wednesdays, 9:00-10:00 AM, and by appointment.

Requirements and Grading:

• (33%) Class Teaching/Discussion Leadership (2-3 presentations) - Each student will work in pairs on developing and presenting 2-3 45-minute presentations of research papers to the class. Details are given in the handout.
• (10%) Preclass Discussion Preparation Forms (1 per paper) - See the PDP form for more information. After reading a paper, this should take no more than 20-30 minutes to complete.
• (32%) Short (5 page, single-spaced) Research Proposal - Details are given in the handout. This will be partially a group assignment and partially an individual assignment due just after the mid-semester.
• (20%) Mid-semester and End-semester Quests - There will be in-class, written quests, which are somewhere between a quiz and an exam in length and difficulty. These quests will be designed to take about 30 minutes to complete, and cover the main points of material presented in the classroom and associated readings. The mid-semester quest will cover material for the first part of the semester, while the end-semester quest will cover material from the second part of the semester. See the quest preparation guide.
• (5%) Class Participation - class participation is evaluated on the basis of your active and insightful participation in the classroom discussions.

Email Questions:

I have found that the quickest way to resolve ambiguities and answer questions on assignments is via email. Any questions sent to pollock@cis will be posted anonymously with an answer via email to the entire class.

Assignment Submission:

Assignments (PDP forms) must be given to the instructor by the start of class on the due date, in order to have no points deducted for lateness. The due dates are to be taken seriously and you should not expect them to be extended. The pace of work is implicit in the due dates and necessary if you expect to finish by the end of the semester. Homeworks to be graded should be turned in at the start of class on the specified due date. NO late programs or homeworks will be accepted FOR FULL CREDIT without discussion with me prior to the due date. If you can not reach me, leave a message on my voicemail. All other assignments not delivered by the due date are considered late.

My philosophy on late assignments is: (1) Everyone should try their best to complete all assignments by the specified due date. (2) People who work conscientiously to make the deadlines should be rewarded for their promptness and sacrifice of sleep. Thus, allowing others to hand in late assignments without some penalty is not fair to these people. However, there are various circumstances that may prevent you from completing an assignment by the due date. Allowing no late assignments would not give you much incentive to continue to work on the assignment, which is a major source of learning in this course. Thus, I believe late assignments are better than no assignment.

Late assignments will be penalized 10% off the total possible points if turned in within the first 24-hour period after the specified due date and time, and 5% per 24-hour period (or fraction of a day) (including weekends) after that time, up to a week after the due date. Late assignments will be accepted with penalty up to one week after the due date. Assignments submitted at any later time without an approved excuse will not be accepted. It is up to you to determine the version of your assignment to be graded. You must weigh the late penalty against the completeness of your assignment.

Regrading Policy:

If you are dissatisfied with a grade on an assignment, or exam, you should consult the instructor directly within a week of the day the graded assignment was returned to you. No regrade requests will be considered after this week period.

Posting Grades:

With your permission, grades will be posted periodically (by your secret code) online. Questions about accuracy of recorded grades should be addressed to me.

Policy on Academic Dishonesty:

You are permitted to consult with other students and professors on any conceptual problems or clarification issues on all assignments. Research papers, quests, and PDP's should be completed on your own, in your own words. All assignments should be done as your own work or your group's work, with proper citations to others' work as appropriate. Any evidence of collaboration other than specified will be handled as stated in the Official Student Handbook of the University of Delaware. If you are in doubt regarding the requirements, please consult with me before you complete any requirement of this course.