Poor software quality continues to be an issue. In 2002 the National Institutes of Standards reported that up to $59 billion is being lost in the US economy each year due the lack of a sufficient quality infrastructure. In this course we examine one aspect of ensuring software quality -- software testing. We will learn about the fundamentals of software testing and study current research from topics such as event driven system testing, GUI testing, combinatorial testing, configuration-aware testing and database testing and object oriented testing. In addition we may study special topics as time allows such as testing for security specific faults, test generation and testing of end-user software. The course is a topics-based course. We will read several papers on each topic chosen during the semester. Topics selected will customized based on current research trends and the mix of the students in this course.

The course will have a substantial independent project and will require strong class participation. Many of the lectures will not be structured. You are expected to read the assigned material and participate in discussions.

Each student will select a project during the course of the semester. They will be expected to become familiar with a particular body of research beyond the classroom lectures. Students will submit a written report, and give an oral presentation of their findings. A list of suggested projects for this course will be available after the first 4 weeks of classes. Students are encouraged to work on projects related to their current research areas.

To succeed in this course you should have taken an algorithms course and have some prior knowledge of software engineering.

This document is available at http://www.cse.unl.edu/~myra/classes/cse990SQM_09/syllabus.html

Topics to be Covered:

Part I: Software Testing Overview

• Software Testing Basics
  • Black box testing and test specifications
  • White box testing - types of code coverage
  • Regression testing
  • Coverage Adequacy
  • Test oracles
  • Test scripts
• Specific Topics In Testing (not all may be covered):
  • GUI and event based testing
  • Object oriented testing
  • Combinatorial testing
  • Testing for security faults
  • Database testing
  • Test case generation
  • Model based testing
  • End user testing

The grading for the class will be as follows:

• Homeworks: problems, programs, paper reviews: 30%
• In Class participation: 10%
• Project Proposal: Due Oct. 16th 10%
• Paper presentations: 10%
• Final project presentation results and paper: 40% Due Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
  

  There will be no exams given in this course; Evaluation will be based primarily on your class participation, assignments, paper reviews, your paper presentation, and your written and oral project presentations. There will be a considerable amount of reading of research papers in the course.

Detailed Class Schedule: