SWE 737 Course Syllabus

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Advanced Software Testing
Spring 2018

Professor:	Paul Ammann
Office:	Engineering Building 4428, 993-1660
Email:	pammann@gmu.edu
URL:	http://cs.gmu.edu/~pammann/737.html
Class Hours:	Monday 4:30 to 7:10, Innovation Hall 206
Prerequisite:	SWE 637 or POI. Contact me if you have questions.

Important

This class is a seminar! It is not a lecture class. Students should expect to contribute heavily to the class.

Course Description

This version of SWE 737 is about advanced testing techniques. The heart of the course is a testing-related research project, drawn from one of three areas:

Context-based approaches to mutation testing. This project has substantial infrastructure already built and is suitable for a variety of semester-long research projects.
Empirical studies in evaluating methods for choosing components for test automation. This is a small MITRE-funded project that might be of interest to one or two students.
A testing-related research project identified by the student and approved by the instructor.

Degree Credit for PhD IT Students

This class counts towards the "Select at least 18 credit hours with at least 12 credits at the 700 level as follows" requirement in the Software Engineering Advanced Emphasis Requirement.
Note: The CS department approved adding SWE 737 to this list in 2016, but a clerical error resulted in it not appearing in the 2017-2018 catalog. Nonetheless, the vote is what is binding, and hence the course does count towards this requirement.

Course Materials

We will use Piazza for discussions and posting (most) material.
Brief Introductory Slides
Introduction to Software Testing, Second Edition, Ammann and Offutt, Cambridge University Press, 2017
Book website
Direct Safari Link
General Safari Link (off campus)
Material on context-based mutation. We'll start with the most recent paper on the topic (ISSTA 2017) Inferring Mutant Utility from Program Context.
Additional papers will be listed prior to the first meeting of the class.

Approximate Schedule: Revisions likely!

First few weeks: General (re)orientation in testing. I plan to lead some of these discussions, but heavy student participation is expected.
Middle section of the semeter: Student presentations of papers from the literature.
Last few weeks of the semester: Student presentations of projects/papers. This will cover your work.

Assignments/Expectations

There are three specific expectations of students in this class.

The simplest is that each student come to lecture prepared to discuss the topic of the day. This is a seminar, not a lecture. Each student is expected to add value to the discussion.
Discussions will continue outside of class on a Piazza forum. Again, students are expected to contribute.
Each student will lead one or two discussions in class, as well as one or more online discussions. This will involve selecting suitable material, making it available to other students, and preparing a presentation to guide the discussion. You should begin researching what topics you would like to present now. You should have clear your ideas with me a couple of weeks before you are scheduled to present.
Group work is certainly allowed - even encouraged - depending on what is most appropriate for the specific topic.
Each student will prepare a project or paper on some advanced testing technique. Again, you should discuss your ideas with me as early as possible.
Group work is possible in this aspect of the course as well, but requires a strong rationale and prior instructor approval.

PhD students should aim for a paper/project that is potentially publishable. Often, such papers require additional work outside the scope of the class to bring them to the level of quality required to satisfy a typical set of reviewers. MS students are also welcome to aim for publication. However, many MS students are often interested in more practical applications.

Grading

Grades are computed as: Class participation (25%); Discussion leading (25%); Project (50%).