Test case generation: specification-based

Software is becoming increasingly important in our everyday life. Software testing is one of the many techniques adopted by software developers to ensure the quality of software. Selecting test cases that reveal software failures is crucial in software development activities. Recent industry best practices suggest “write test (cases) before code” and “write test (cases) for each new bug,” which indicate that test cases should be generated on the basis of specification as well as fault-based information. This is also in alignment with the aim of software testing as proposed by Myers — the execution of software with the intention of finding failures. This entry discusses specification-based test case generation, its advantages, and various specification-based test case generation techniques with an emphasis on those techniques that exploit the full potential of combining specification and fault-based information. Further potential areas along this direction are also discussed.