Overview of Test Coverage Criteria for Test Case Generation from Finite State Machines Modelled as Directed Graphs

Abstract

Test Coverage criteria are an essential concept for test engineers when generating the test cases from a System Under Test model. They are routinely used in test case generation for user interfaces, middleware, and back-end system parts for software, electronics, or Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Test Coverage criteria define the number of actions or combinations by which a system is tested, informally determining a potential "strength" of a test set. As no previous study summarized all commonly used test coverage criteria for Finite State Machines and comprehensively discussed them regarding their subsumption, equivalence, or non-comparability, this paper provides this overview. In this study, 14 most common test coverage criteria and seven of their synonyms for Finite State Machines defined via a directed graph are summarized and compared. The results give researchers and industry testing engineers a helpful overview when setting a software-based or IoT system test strategy.