A Case for White-box Testing Using Declarative Specifications Poster Abstract

Software testing, the most commonly used technique for validating the quality of software, is a labor intensive process, and typically accounts for about half the total cost of software development and maintenance. Automating testing not only reduces the cost of producing software but also increases the reliability of modern software. White-box testing and black-box testing are two commonly used techniques that have complementary strengths. White-box testing uses the internal structures (such as control flow or data flow) of programs. Black-box uses an external interface. Automated approaches to black-box testing make extensive use of specifications, e.g., to specify test inputs or test oracles. In unit testing of object-oriented code, preconditions, which define constraints on legal method inputs, and postconditions, which define expected behavior and outputs, form an integral part of specifications.