{"id":153001,"date":"2006-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/msr-research-item\/feedback-directed-random-test-generation\/"},"modified":"2018-10-16T20:27:23","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T03:27:23","slug":"feedback-directed-random-test-generation","status":"publish","type":"msr-research-item","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/publication\/feedback-directed-random-test-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Feedback-directed Random Test Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"asset-content\">\n<p>We present a technique that improves random test generation by incorporating feedback obtained from executing test inputs as they are created. Our technique builds inputs incrementally by randomly selecting a method call to apply and finding arguments from among previously-constructed inputs. As soon as an input is built, it is executed and checked against a set of contracts and filters. The result of the execution determines whether the input is redundant, illegal, contract-violating, or useful for generating more inputs. The technique outputs a test suite consisting of unit tests for the classes under test. Passing tests can be used to ensure that code contracts are preserved across program changes; failing tests (that violate one or more contract) point to potential errors that should be corrected. When applied to 14 widely-used libraries comprising 780KLOC, feedback-directed random test generation finds many serious, previously-unknown errors. Compared with both systematic test generation and undirected random test generation, feedback-directed random test generation finds more errors, finds more severe errors, and produces fewer redundant tests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .asset-content --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We present a technique that improves random test generation by incorporating feedback obtained from executing test inputs as they are created. Our technique builds inputs incrementally by randomly selecting a method call to apply and finding arguments from among previously-constructed inputs. As soon as an input is built, it is executed and checked against a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"msr-content-type":[3],"msr-research-highlight":[],"research-area":[13547],"msr-publication-type":[193718],"msr-product-type":[],"msr-focus-area":[],"msr-platform":[],"msr-download-source":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[],"msr-field-of-study":[],"msr-conference":[],"msr-journal":[],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-153001","msr-research-item","type-msr-research-item","status-publish","hentry","msr-research-area-systems-and-networking","msr-locale-en_us"],"msr_publishername":"Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.","msr_edition":"","msr_affiliation":"","msr_published_date":"2006-09-01","msr_host":"","msr_duration":"","msr_version":"","msr_speaker":"","msr_other_contributors":"","msr_booktitle":"","msr_pages_string":"14","msr_chapter":"","msr_isbn":"","msr_journal":"","msr_volume":"","msr_number":"MSR-TR-2006-125","msr_editors":"","msr_series":"","msr_issue":"","msr_organization":"","msr_how_published":"","msr_notes":"","msr_highlight_text":"","msr_release_tracker_id":"","msr_original_fields_of_study":"","msr_download_urls":"","msr_external_url":"","msr_secondary_video_url":"","msr_longbiography":"","msr_microsoftintellectualproperty":1,"msr_main_download":"228589","msr_publicationurl":"","msr_doi":"","msr_publication_uploader":[{"type":"file","title":"tr-2006-125.pdf","viewUrl":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/tr-2006-125.pdf","id":228589,"label_id":0}],"msr_related_uploader":"","msr_attachments":[{"id":228589,"url":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/tr-2006-125.pdf"}],"msr-author-ordering":[{"type":"text","value":"Carlos Pacheco","user_id":0,"rest_url":false},{"type":"user_nicename","value":"shuvendu","user_id":33640,"rest_url":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/microsoft-research\/v1\/researchers?person=shuvendu"},{"type":"text","value":"Michael D. 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