Using testing and code search techniques in contemporary software development

Abstract

Contemporary software development (that is, the one which applies techniques such as Object-Oriented Programming - OOP - and Aspect-Oriented Programming - AOP) introduces several challenges to the production of high quality and low cost systems. On one hand, modern programming techniques bring many benefits, such as more cohesive, less coupled, and more legible code. On the other hand, the same techniques can also present obstacles, such as new types of faults that did not occur with previous techniques. Besides, even with the enhancements brought by modern techniques, there is still room for improvements towards attaining more confidence in the developed code and lower development costs. With respect to improving quality, two examples of important problems to be investigated are: (1) testing of object-oriented (OO) and aspect-oriented (AO) programs that apply exception-handling mechanisms (since these bring difficulties in the understanding and consequently testing of systems); and (2) testing of AO programs that include the interaction of different aspects which affect coincident portions of code (since it is hard to determine the behavior in such points). With respect to lowering the development costs, an important and novel approach is the use of code search techniques that take advantage of available open source software. This type of technique eases software reuse, which consequently reduces costs. This Young Researcher project aims to investigate the integration of testing and code search techniques to enhance contemporary software development. (AU)