Coverage Criteria for Testing Web Applications

Author : Sampath, Sreedevi; Gibson, Emily; Sprenkle, Sara; Pollock, Lori
Date : Apr 2005
Institution : University of Delaware
Department : Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Keyword(s) : coverage criteria
Document Type : Technical Report

Abstract :

As web applications evolve and their usage increases, their complexity also increases, thus creating a great demand for techniques and tools to ensure well-tested, reliable applications. While program-based coverage and fault detection capability can be used to measure the quality of test suites, the dynamic characteristics of web applications motivate additional criteria to complement these traditional test adequacy criteria. This paper presents novel dynamic coverage criteria customized for web applications—criteria intended for testing at a page level. Based on a changing universe of test requirements, as indicated by evolving usage of the application, our criteria avoid the difficulties of building an accurate static model of a web application’s structure.We define a class of dynamic coverage criteria, present the subsumption relation among them, and describe two case studies to demonstrate their usefulness. Among other possible uses, the proposed criteria can be used to compare the quality of test suites, to select test cases, and to examine how usage of a web application changes over time. The proposed criteria complement traditional program coverage and fault detection capability criteria.

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