Metamorphic testing: a review of challenges and opportunities

Chen, Tsong Yueh; Kuo, Fei-Ching; Liu, Huai; Poon, Pak-Lok; Towey, Dave; Tse, T. H.; Zhou, Zhi Quan

Abstract

Metamorphic testing is an approach to both test case generation and test result verification. A central element is a set of metamorphic relations, which are necessary properties of the target function or algorithm in relation to multiple inputs and their expected outputs. Since its first publication, we have witnessed a rapidly increasing body of work examining metamorphic testing from various perspectives, including metamorphic relation identification, test case generation, integration with other software engineering techniques, and the validation and evaluation of software systems. In this paper, we review the current research of metamorphic testing and discuss the challenges yet to be addressed. We also present visions for further improvement of metamorphic testing and highlight opportunities for new research.

Citation

Chen, T. Y., Kuo, F.-C., Liu, H., Poon, P.-L., Towey, D., Tse, T. H., & Zhou, Z. Q. (2018). Metamorphic testing: a review of challenges and opportunities. ACM Computing Surveys, 51(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3143561

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 30, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jan 31, 2018
• Publication Date: Apr 14, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 11, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: May 11, 2018
• Journal: ACM Computing Surveys
• Print ISSN: 0360-0300
• Electronic ISSN: 1557-7341
• Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3143561
• Keywords: Software and its engineering; Software verification and validation; Software testing and debugging
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/925152
• Publisher URL: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=3177787.3143561
• Additional Information: © ACM, 2018. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in ACM Computing Surveys, v. 51, issue 1, April 2018. http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/3143561
• Contract Date: May 11, 2018