TITAN: Test Suite Optimization for Highly Configurable Software

Abstract

Exhaustive testing of highly configurable software developed in continuous integration is rarely feasible in practice due to the configuration space of exponential size on the one hand, and strict time constraints on the other. This entails using selective testing techniques to determine the most failure-inducing test cases, conforming to highly-constrained time budget. These challenges have been well recognized by researchers, such that many different techniques have been proposed. In practice, however, there is a lack of efficient tools able to reduce high testing effort, without compromising software quality. In this paper we propose a test suite optimization technology TITAN, which increases the time-and cost-efficiency of testing highly configurable software developed in continuous integration. The technology implements practical test prioritization and minimization techniques, and provides test traceability and visualization for improving the quality of testing. We present the TITAN tool and discuss a set of methodological and technological challenges we have faced during TITAN development. We evaluate TITAN in testing of Cisco's highly configurable software with frequent high quality releases, and demonstrate the benefit of the approach in such a complex industry domain.