BASIC PATH TESTING WHITE BOX TESTING

Basis path testing is a white box testing technique first proposed by Tom McCabe . The basis path method enables the test case designer to derive a logical complexity measure of a procedural design and use this measure as a guide for defining a basis set of execution paths. Test cases derived to exercise the basis set are guaranteed to execute every statement in the program at least one time during testing.

Cyclomatic Complexity

Cyclomatic complexity is a software metric that provides a quantitative measure of the logical complexity of a program. When used in the context of the basis path testing method, the value computed for cyclomatic complexity defines the number of independent paths in the basis set of a program and provides us with an upper bound for the number of tests that must be conducted to ensure that all statements have been executed at least once.

An independent path is any path through the program that introduces at least one new set of processing statements or a new condition. When stated in terms of a flow.

Condition Testing

Condition testing is a test case design method that exercises the logical conditions contained in a program module. A simple condition is a Boolean variable or a relational expression, possibly preceded with one NOT (¬) operator. A relational expression takes the form

e₁ E₂

where E₁ and E₂ are arithmetic expressions and is one of the following: <, <, =, ≠ (nonequality), >, or ≥. A compound condition is composed of two or more simple conditions, Boolean operators, and parentheses. We assume that Boolean operators allowed in a compound condition include OR (|), AND (&) and NOT (¬). A condition without relational expressions is referred to as a Boolean expression.

Therefore, the possible types of elements in a condition include a Boolean operator, a Boolean variable, a pair of Boolean parentheses (surrounding a simple or compound condition), a relational operator, or an arithmetic expression.

If a condition is incorrect, then at least one component of the condition is incorrect. Therefore, types of errors in a condition include the following:

• Boolean operator error (incorrect/missing/extra Boolean operators).

• Boolean variable error.

• Boolean parenthesis error.

• Relational operator error.

• Arithmetic expression error.

The condition testing method focuses on testing each condition in the program. Condition testing strategies generally have two advantages. First, measurement of test coverage of a condition is simple. Second, the tea coverage of conditions in a program provides guidance for the generation of additional tests for the program.

The purpose of condition testing is to detect not only errors in the conditions of a program but also other errors in the program. If a test set for a program P is effective for detecting errors in the conditions contained in P, it is likely that this test set is also effective for detecting other errors in P. In addition, if a testing strategy is effective for detecting errors in a condition, then it is likely that this strategy will also be effective for detecting errors in a program.

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