MODEST: um método de teste baseado em modelos

Abstract

In this work we present our contributions related to the improvement of testing activities, in particular, we present a model-based testing method called MODEST. The main characteristic of MODEST is the use of simple information about the behavior of the system under test. The use of MODEST can decrease the development costs, due to the reduction of the overall effort required in the development. Although the use of the method increases the design time, it decreases the effort required in the testing activities. This reduction generates an overall reduction in the development effort. The use of the method can also improve the failure detection capability. This was evidenced in a study showing that the automatically generated tests were more effective to detect the system failures than the manually generated ones.During the development of MODEST we identified a series of requirements related to model-based testing. We grouped these requirements in a catalog and we extended it by using several software developers. We believe that our requirements catalog captures the needs, expectations, and constraints of software development workers in a high level of abstraction. Despite the influence of our previous knowledge of information systems development in setting up the catalog, we believe that it can be useful in other domains as well. The catalog can be used as a basis for improving methods as well as a guide for the development of new methods and tools.