An experimental study to evaluate a SPL architecture regression testing approach

In Software Product Line Engineering, where products are derived from a common platform, the reference architecture should be considered the main asset. In order to maintain its correctness and reliability after modifications, a regression testing approach based on architecture specification and code was developed. In this paper, we evaluate it in two different scenarios, the corrective scenario, in which it was performed after a corrective change in the code, and in the progressive scenario, executed after a evolution or enhancement, when some specification changes. The results showed that the progressive scenario was less costly than the corrective. Our evaluation also highlights the importance of a code-based technique to select a set of efficient and effective test cases.