A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generation

Abstract Covering array generation (CAG) is the key research problem in combinatorial testing and is an NP‐complete problem. With the increasing complexity of software under test and the need for higher interaction covering strength t, the techniques for constructing high‐strength covering arrays ar...

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Main Authors: Xu Guo, Xiaoyu Song, Jian‐tao Zhou, Feiyu Wang, Kecheng Tang, Zhuowei Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-08-01
Series:IET Software
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1049/sfw2.12138
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author Xu Guo
Xiaoyu Song
Jian‐tao Zhou
Feiyu Wang
Kecheng Tang
Zhuowei Wang
author_facet Xu Guo
Xiaoyu Song
Jian‐tao Zhou
Feiyu Wang
Kecheng Tang
Zhuowei Wang
author_sort Xu Guo
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Covering array generation (CAG) is the key research problem in combinatorial testing and is an NP‐complete problem. With the increasing complexity of software under test and the need for higher interaction covering strength t, the techniques for constructing high‐strength covering arrays are expected. This paper presents a hybrid heuristic memetic algorithm named QSSMA for high‐strength CAG problem. The sub‐optimal solution acceptance rate is introduced to generate multiple test cases after each iteration to improve the efficiency of constructing high‐covering strength test suites. The QSSMA method could successfully build high‐strength test suites for some instances where t up to 15 within one day cutoff time and report five new best test suite size records. Extensive experiments demonstrate that QSSMA is a competitive method compared to state‐of‐the‐art methods.
format Article
id doaj-art-c22a02e7df8d440aa9cca2f6b70bfad9
institution DOAJ
issn 1751-8806
1751-8814
language English
publishDate 2023-08-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series IET Software
spelling doaj-art-c22a02e7df8d440aa9cca2f6b70bfad92025-08-20T03:23:27ZengWileyIET Software1751-88061751-88142023-08-0117453855310.1049/sfw2.12138A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generationXu Guo0Xiaoyu Song1Jian‐tao Zhou2Feiyu Wang3Kecheng Tang4Zhuowei Wang5College of Computer Science Inner Mongolia University Hohhot Inner Mongolia ChinaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering Portland State University Portland Oregon USACollege of Computer Science Inner Mongolia University Hohhot Inner Mongolia ChinaCollege of Computer Science Inner Mongolia University Hohhot Inner Mongolia ChinaCollege of Computer Science Inner Mongolia University Hohhot Inner Mongolia ChinaSchool of Computer Science and Technology Guangdong University of Technology Guangzhou Guangdong ChinaAbstract Covering array generation (CAG) is the key research problem in combinatorial testing and is an NP‐complete problem. With the increasing complexity of software under test and the need for higher interaction covering strength t, the techniques for constructing high‐strength covering arrays are expected. This paper presents a hybrid heuristic memetic algorithm named QSSMA for high‐strength CAG problem. The sub‐optimal solution acceptance rate is introduced to generate multiple test cases after each iteration to improve the efficiency of constructing high‐covering strength test suites. The QSSMA method could successfully build high‐strength test suites for some instances where t up to 15 within one day cutoff time and report five new best test suite size records. Extensive experiments demonstrate that QSSMA is a competitive method compared to state‐of‐the‐art methods.https://doi.org/10.1049/sfw2.12138optimisationparticle swarm optimisationsoftware engineering
spellingShingle Xu Guo
Xiaoyu Song
Jian‐tao Zhou
Feiyu Wang
Kecheng Tang
Zhuowei Wang
A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generation
IET Software
optimisation
particle swarm optimisation
software engineering
title A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generation
title_full A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generation
title_fullStr A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generation
title_full_unstemmed A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generation
title_short A memetic algorithm for high‐strength covering array generation
title_sort memetic algorithm for high strength covering array generation
topic optimisation
particle swarm optimisation
software engineering
url https://doi.org/10.1049/sfw2.12138
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