Title: Heuristic-based time-aware multi-criteria test case prioritisation technique

Authors: R. Uma Maheswari; D. Jeya Mala

Addresses: Department of Computer Applications, K.L.N. College of Engineering, Sivagangai – 630612, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Computer Applications, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai – 625005, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: Regression testing is a costly process used to validate the changed software code. Test case prioritisation (TCP) techniques enhance the cost-adequacy of regression testing by ordering the test cases such that more imperative test case runs earlier in the testing process. This paper proposes a heuristic time aware multi-criteria test case prioritisation (HTMCTCP). It considers various targets simultaneously and chooses the best test cases within the stipulated time budget. This technique swaps between the neighbourhood search and the global search in the huge search space of the problem to avoid getting stuck in local optima and also it guarantees fast convergence to the best solution. When the effectiveness of the technique is compared with the existing prioritisation approach like genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing algorithm (SA), it is inferred that the proposed HTMCTCP technique indicates noteworthy change over those systems.

Keywords: regression testing; test case prioritisation; TCP; heuristic technique; genetic algorithm; simulated annealing algorithm; evolutionary techniques; multi-criteria approach; time-aware prioritisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISCM.2017.091275

International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management, 2017 Vol.9 No.4, pp.315 - 333

Received: 11 May 2017
Accepted: 01 Feb 2018
Published online: 19 Apr 2018 *

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