基于遗传算法的DM-GA组合测试数据生成方法

测试数据生成是组合软件测试的重要部分,生成高质量的测试数据对于软件测试具有重要意义.针对两两组合测试数据生成问题,结合传统遗传算法,加入了精英策略和自适应变异概率,提出了DM-GA( dynamic mutation rates-genetic algorithm)算法,改善了传统遗传算法容易陷入局部最优以及收敛速度慢等不足,并取得了良好的效果.实验结果表明DM-GA算法可以作为一种较理想的两两组合测试数据生成方法.     

基于两两覆盖准则的遗传算法测试用例生成

软件参数的组合测试是发现参数组合问题的重要方法,但是参数组合测试面临着组合爆炸问题,成对测试可以有效降低测试成本。提出了一种基于遗传算法的成对测试生成方法,该方法用于选择当前局部优化覆盖的测试用例,在此基础上构建满足成对测试基准的测试用例套,结果表明该方法能在不降低测试覆盖精度的情况下有效降低了测试用例数量。     

参数配对及n-way组合覆盖算法研究

组合测试是软件测试数据生成研究的一个重要领域,其中参数配对组合测试的应用最为广泛.对常用的参数配对组合覆盖方法进行了综述分析.目前主流的配对覆盖算法AETG和IPO所存在的主要问题是在确定水平取值时,具有盲目性和随机性,从而难以控制测试用例的规模.为此提出了改进的AETG算法和IPO算法,改进算法通过对参数进行预处理以及综合考虑各因素的水平组合等手段,对测试用例的规模进行控制,采用更加完备的方法尽早确定水平取值.为验证新算法的有效性,进行了仿真实验和实际测试,结果表明,改进算法所生成的测试用例数量要少于原算法,测试用例约减效果更为明显;测试用例数与配对数之间、测试用例数与因素水平数之间存在着某些规律性的联系,分析得出了一系列相关的结论.在配对覆盖的基础上,提出了遗传算法与AETG算法相结合的n-way组合覆盖算法,证明了其时间复杂性较已有算法得到了改善.     

A discrete artificial bee colony algorithm for the total flowtime minimization in permutation flow shops

Obtaining an optimal solution for a permutation flowshop scheduling problem with the total flowtime criterion in a reasonable computational timeframe using traditional approaches and optimization tools has been a challenge. This paper presents a discrete artificial bee colony algorithm hybridized with a variant of iterated greedy algorithms to find the permutation that gives the smallest total flowtime. Iterated greedy algorithms are comprised of local search procedures based on insertion and swap neighborhood structures. In the same context, we also consider a discrete differential evolution algorithm from our previous work. The performance of the proposed algorithms is tested on the well-known benchmark suite of Taillard. The highly effective performance of the discrete artificial bee colony and hybrid differential evolution algorithms is compared against the best performing algorithms from the existing literature in terms of both solution quality and CPU times. Ultimately, 44 out of the 90 best known solutions provided very recently by the best performing estimation of distribution and genetic local search algorithms are further improved by the proposed algorithms with short-term searches. The solutions known to be the best to date are reported for the benchmark suite of Taillard with long-term searches, as well.     

基于解空间树的组合测试数据生成

在组合覆盖测试模型的基础上提出：将所有的可用测试数据表示为一棵解空间树,利用回溯法对解空间树进行路径搜索来生成测试数据,然后使用贪心算法补充生成测试数据,以满足两两组合覆盖标准.并且实现了基于该方法的测试数据生成工具,所生成的测试数据集与同类工具相比具有一定的特点和优势.     

A method for speeding up beam-tracing simulation using thread-level parallelization

In recent years, the computational power of modern processors has been increasing mainly because of the increase in the number of processor cores. Computationally intensive applications can gain from this trend only if they employ parallelism, such as thread-level parallelization. Geometric simulations can employ thread-level parallelization because the main part of a geometric simulation can be divided into a subset of mutually independent tasks. This approach is especially interesting for acoustic beam tracing because it is an intensive computing task. This paper presents the parallelization of an existing beam-tracing simulation composed of three algorithms. Two of them are iterative algorithms, and they are parallelized with an already known technique. The most novel method is the parallelization of the third algorithm, the recursive octree generation. To check the performance of the multi-threaded parallelization, several tests are performed using three different computer platforms. On all of the platforms, the multi-threaded octree generation algorithm shows a significant speedup, which is linear when all of the threads are executed on the same processor.     

基于量子遗传算法的软件测试数据自动生成

测试数据的自动生成是测试阶段最关键的技术问题,改进软件测试方法,对提高软件测试的自动化程度具有十分重要的现实意义;在测试数据的自动生成的方法中,遗传算法虽然取得了较好的效果,但是这种算法存在缺陷和局限性,而量子遗传算法改善了其不足之处;应用量子遗传算法解决软件测试数据生成问题,克服了传统的以测试数据为核心的测试方法的不足和缺陷,实验结果表明量子遗传算法的测试用例生成效率高于遗传算法;所以,量子遗传算法可以作为一种较为理想的算法进行测试数据的自动生成,对软件测试中的测试数据自动生成具有很强的使用价值。     

Generating software test data by evolution

This paper discusses the use of genetic algorithms (GAs) for automatic software test data generation. This research extends previous work on dynamic test data generation where the problem of test data generation is reduced to one of minimizing a function. In our work, the function is minimized by using one of two genetic algorithms in place of the local minimization techniques used in earlier research. We describe the implementation of our GA-based system and examine the effectiveness of this approach on a number of programs, one of which is significantly larger than those for which results have previously been reported in the literature. We also examine the effect of program complexity on the test data generation problem by executing our system on a number of synthetic programs that have varying complexities     

A novel mutation strategy selection mechanism for differential evolution based on local fitness landscape

The performance of differential evolution (DE) algorithm highly depends on the selection of mutation strategy. However, there are six commonly used mutation strategies in DE. Therefore, it is a challenging task to choose an appropriate mutation strategy for a specific optimization problem. For a better tackle this problem, in this paper, a novel DE algorithm based on local fitness landscape called LFLDE is proposed, in which the local fitness landscape information of the problem is investigated to guide the selection of the mutation strategy for each given problem at each generation. In addition, a novel control parameter adaptive mechanism is used to improve the proposed algorithm. In the experiments, a total of 29 test functions originated from CEC2017 single-objective test function suite which are utilized to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Friedman rank test results reveal that the performance of the proposed algorithm is better than the other five representative DE algorithms.

     

Harmony search-based test data generation for branch coverage in software structural testing

Test data generation is always a key task in the field of software testing. In recent years, meta-heuristic search techniques have been considered as an effective way to assist test data generation in software structural testing. In this way, some representative test cases with high-coverage capability can be picked out from program input space. Harmony search (HS) is a recently developed algorithm and has been vigorously applied to various optimization problems. In the paper, we attempt to apply harmony search algorithm to generate test data satisfying branch coverage. At the preprocessing stage, the probes used for gathering coverage information are inserted into all branches via program static analysis. At the same time, the encoding and decoding styles between a test case and a harmony are also determined in advance. At the stage of test data searching, the subset of test data that has much stronger covering ability is stored in harmony memory. During the evolution process, one part of test suite is selected and adjusted from the harmony memory, and the other part is randomly generated from input space. Once a test suite is yielded after one-round search, its coverage can be measured by fitness function in our search algorithm. In our work, a new fitness function for branch coverage is constructed by comprehensively considering branch distance and branch weight. Here, the branch weight is determined by branch information in program, that is, the nesting level of a specific branch and the predicate types in it. Subsequently, the computed coverage metric is used for updating the test suite in the next round of searching. In order to validate the effectiveness of our proposed method, eight well-known programs are used for experimental evaluation. Experimental results show that the coverage of HS-based method is usually higher than those of other search algorithms, such as simulated annealing (SA) and genetic algorithm (GA). Meanwhile, HS demonstrates greater stability than SA and GA when varying the population size or performing repeated trials. That is to say, music-inspired HS algorithm is more suitable to generate test data for branch coverage in software structural testing.     

Proximity and priority: applying a gene expression algorithm to the Traveling Salesperson Problem

We describe an environment for evolutionary computation that supports the movement of information from genome to phenotype with the possibility of one or more intermediate transformations. Our notion of a phenotype is more than a simple alternate representation of the binary genome. The construction of a phenotype is sufficiently different from the genome as to require its generation by a procedure that we call a gene expression algorithm. We discuss various reasons why benefits should accrue when combining gene expression algorithms with conventional genetic algorithms and illustrate these ideas with an algorithm to generate approximate solutions to the Traveling Salesperson Problem. As in most genetic algorithms dealing with the TSP we run into the problem of an appropriate crossover operation for the strings that specify a permutation. To handle this issue we introduce a novel genome representation that admits a natural crossover operation and produces a permutation vector as an intermediate representation. The gene expression strategy offers an excellent opportunity for parallelization of the computation since the gene expression processing for each genome and the subsequent evaluation of the fitness function are computations that can be spread across many processors.     

Directed test suite augmentation: an empirical investigation

Test suite augmentation techniques are used in regression testing to identify code elements in a modified program that are not adequately tested and to generate test cases to cover those elements. A defining feature of test suite augmentation techniques is the potential for reusing existing regression test suites. Our preliminary work suggests that several factors influence the efficiency and effectiveness of augmentation techniques that perform such reuse. These include the order in which target code elements are considered while generating test cases, the manner in which existing regression test cases and newly generated test cases are used, and the algorithm used to generate test cases. In this work, we present the results of two empirical studies examining these factors, considering two test case generation algorithms (concolic and genetic). The results of our studies show that the primary factor affecting augmentation using these approaches is the test case generation algorithm utilized; this affects both cost and effectiveness. The manner in which existing and newly generated test cases are utilized also has a substantial effect on efficiency and in some cases a substantial effect on effectiveness. The order in which target code elements are considered turns out to have relatively few effects when using concolic test case generation but in some cases influences the efficiency of genetic test case generation. The results of our first study, on four relatively small programs using a large number of test suites, are supported by our second study of a much larger program available in multiple versions. Together, the studies reveal a potential opportunity for creating a more cost‐effective hybrid augmentation approach leveraging both concolic and genetic test case generation techniques, while appropriately utilizing our understanding of the factors that affect them. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于数据流准则的测试用例生成方法

针对基于控制流的测试充分性准则易错失面向对象程序中的状态依赖关系,提出一种基于数据流准则的测试用例自动生成方法。通过数据流分析获取待覆盖的目标定义使用对,利用遗传算法自动生成覆盖定义使用对的测试用例,根据适应度函数指导测试用例的进化。将该方法与基于分支覆盖和语句覆盖的方法相比较。实验结果表明, 与其他方法相比,该方法可以检测出更多的变异体,适应度函数的设计降低了进化代数。     

Latent ranking analysis using pairwise comparisons in crowdsourcing platforms

Ranking items is an essential problem in recommendation systems. Since comparing two items is the simplest type of queries in order to measure the relevance of items, the problem of aggregating pairwise comparisons to obtain a global ranking has been widely studied. Furthermore, ranking with pairwise comparisons has recently received a lot of attention in crowdsourcing systems where binary comparative queries can be used effectively to make assessments faster for precise rankings. In order to learn a ranking based on a training set of queries and their labels obtained from annotators, machine learning algorithms are generally used to find the appropriate ranking model which describes the data set the best.In this paper, we propose a probabilistic model for learning multiple latent rankings by using pairwise comparisons. Our novel model can capture multiple hidden rankings underlying the pairwise comparisons. Based on the model, we develop an efficient inference algorithm to learn multiple latent rankings as well as an effective inference algorithm for active learning to update the model parameters in crowdsourcing systems whenever new pairwise comparisons are supplied. The performance study with synthetic and real-life data sets confirms the effectiveness of our model and inference algorithms.     

Web应用前后端融合的遗传算法并行化测试用例生成

Web应用测试用例生成并行化，是提升Web应用测试生成效率的一个有效手段.Web应用的前后端分离、事件驱动等特性，导致传统的并行化技术难以直接应用于Web应用的测试用例自动生成中.因此，如何针对Web应用进行并行化测试用例生成，是一项具有挑战性的工作.将种群并行化计算引入到基于遗传算法的Web应用前后端融合的测试用例生成中，通过线程池及调度逻辑、多浏览器进程管理及后端覆盖路径的获取，实现种群个体在多浏览器上的并行化执行及基于后端路径覆盖的适应度值并行化计算，以更高效地生成Web应用的测试用例.实验结果表明：相较于Web应用的GA串行化测试用例生成方法，所提的并行化测试生成方法能更充分地利用系统资源，极大地提升Web应用测试用例的生成效率.     

Space-and-Time Efficient Parallel Garbage Collector for Data-Intensive Applications

As multithreaded server applications and runtime systems prevail, garbage collection is becoming an essential feature to support high performance systems, especially those running data-intensive applications. The fundamental issue of garbage collector (GC) design is to maximize the recycled space with minimal time overhead. This paper proposes two innovative solutions: one to improve space efficiency, and the other to improve time efficiency. To achieve space efficiency, we propose the Space Tuner that utilizes the novel concept of allocation speed to reduce wasted space. Conventional static space partitioning techniques often lead to inefficient space utilization. The Space Tuner adjusts the heap partitioning dynamically such that when a collection is triggered, all space partitions are fully filled. To achieve time efficiency, we propose a novel parallelization method that reduces the compacting GC parallelization problem into a tree traversal parallelization problem. This method can be applied for both normal and large object compaction. Object compaction is hard to parallelize due to strong data dependencies such that the source object can not be moved to its target location until the object originally in the target location has been moved out. Our proposed algorithm overcomes the difficulties by dividing the heap into equal-sized blocks and parallelizing the movement of the independent blocks. It is noteworthy that these proposed algorithms are generic such that they can be utilized in different GC designs. The proposed techniques have been implemented in Apache Harmony JVM and we evaluated the proposed algorithms with SPECjbb and Dacapo benchmark suites. The experiment results demonstrate that our proposed algorithms greatly improve space utilization and the corresponding parallelization schemes are scalable, which brings time efficiency.     

Genetic algorithms for task scheduling problem

The scheduling and mapping of the precedence-constrained task graph to processors is considered to be the most crucial NP-complete problem in parallel and distributed computing systems. Several genetic algorithms have been developed to solve this problem. A common feature in most of them has been the use of chromosomal representation for a schedule. However, these algorithms are monolithic, as they attempt to scan the entire solution space without considering how to reduce the complexity of the optimization process. In this paper, two genetic algorithms have been developed and implemented. Our developed algorithms are genetic algorithms with some heuristic principles that have been added to improve the performance. According to the first developed genetic algorithm, two fitness functions have been applied one after the other. The first fitness function is concerned with minimizing the total execution time (schedule length), and the second one is concerned with the load balance satisfaction. The second developed genetic algorithm is based on a task duplication technique to overcome the communication overhead. Our proposed algorithms have been implemented and evaluated using benchmarks. According to the evolved results, it has been found that our algorithms always outperform the traditional algorithms.     

Memetic algorithm with Preferential Local Search using adaptive weights for multi-objective optimization problems

Evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithms are generally employed to generate Pareto optimal solutions by exploring the search space. To enhance the performance, exploration by global search can be complemented with exploitation by combining it with local search. In this paper, we address the issues in integrating local search with global search such as: how to select individuals for local search; how deep the local search is performed; how to combine multiple objectives into single objective for local search. We introduce a Preferential Local Search mechanism to fine tune the global optimal solutions further and an adaptive weight mechanism for combining multi-objectives together. These ideas have been integrated into NSGA-II to arrive at a new memetic algorithm for solving multi-objective optimization problems. The proposed algorithm has been applied on a set of constrained and unconstrained multi-objective benchmark test suite. The performance was analyzed by computing different metrics such as Generational distance, Spread, Max spread, and HyperVolume Ratio for the test suite functions. Statistical test applied on the results obtained suggests that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-art multi-objective algorithms like NSGA-II and SPEA2. To study the performance of our algorithm on a real-world application, Economic Emission Load Dispatch was also taken up for validation. The performance was studied with the help of measures such as Hypervolume and Set Coverage Metrics. Experimental results substantiate that our algorithm has the capability to solve real-world problems like Economic Emission Load Dispatch and is able to produce better solutions, when compared with NSGA-II, SPEA2, and traditional memetic algorithms with fixed local search steps.     

Metaheuristic optimization for the Single-Item Dynamic Lot Sizing problem with returns and remanufacturing

The use of metaheuristics for solving the Single-Item Dynamic Lot Sizing problem with returns and remanufacturing has increasingly gained research interest. Recently, preliminary experiments with Particle Swarm Optimization revealed that population-based algorithms can be competitive with existing state-of-the-art approaches. In the current work, we thoroughly investigate the performance of a very popular population-based algorithm, namely Differential Evolution (DE), on the specific problem. The most promising variant of the algorithm is experimentally identified and properly modified to further enhance its performance. Also, necessary modifications in the formulation of the corresponding optimization problem are introduced. The algorithm is applied on an abundant test suite employed in previous studies. Its performance is analyzed and compared with a state-of-the-art approach as well as with a previously investigated metaheuristic algorithm. The results suggest that specific DE variants can be placed among the most efficient approaches, thereby enriching the available algorithmic artillery for tackling the specific type of problems.     

A CPU–GPU framework for optimizing the quality of large meshes

The automatic generation of 3D finite element meshes (FEM) is still a bottleneck for the simulation of large fluid dynamic problems. Although today there are several algorithms that can generate good meshes without user intervention, in cases where the geometry changes during the calculation and thousands of meshes must be constructed, the computational cost of this process can exceed the cost of the FEM. There has been a lot of work in FEM parallelization and the algorithms work well in different parallel architectures, but at present there has not been much success in the parallelization of mesh generation methods. This paper will present a massive parallelization scheme for re-meshing with tetrahedral elements using the local modification algorithm. This method is frequently used to improve the quality of elements once the mesh has been generated, but we will show it can also be applied as a regeneration process, starting with the distorted and invalid mesh of the previous step. The parallelization is carried out using OpenCL and OpenMP in order to test the method in a multiple CPU architecture and also in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Finally we present the speedup and quality results obtained in meshes with hundreds of thousands of elements and different parallel APIs.