House of the Rising Flames: A Hands-on, Bug-centered Tutorial on Embedded Software Testing

Abstract

For software testing teachers interested in extending their CS students' experience, we propose an innovative solution that adds two, less traditional-yet fascinating-ingredients: hardware and mistakes. Highlighted here are a few original components, including: (1) miniature, microcontroller-based systems-under-test that mimic real-life IoT devices, such as a smart home; (2) a gentle tutorial on how embedded systems work and fail, and (3) a bug-hunting game to assess students' testing skills. A first deployment to 96 Msc CS students showed that their frequent, unforgettable "Eureka!" moments richly compensate for (limited) accidental hardware damage and (substantial) technical and financial efforts. Future plans include extending the collection of systems and bugs, and sharing the design of this unusual-for-CS intervention with other interested educators. Our hope is that a new generation of professionals will emerge, better prepared to engineer the safe systems we all can rely on.