Method and apparatus for the performing unit testing of software modules in software systems

An apparatus in communication with a computer readable recording medium, comprising:

• a processor;
• and a memory,
• the processor coupled to the memory,
• the memory comprising therein a software program to be executed on said processor,
• the software program for performing unit testing of a software module,
• the software module comprising an external interface comprising one or more input variables having unknown values,
• a plurality of possible program execution paths which may result from an execution of said software module,
• each of said program execution paths comprising one or more outcomes of one or more of said conditional expressions comprised in said software module,
• the software program implementing program steps of:
• identifying functional aspects of a piece of software code;
• identifying a plurality of decision/condition statements of the piece of software code;
• estimating an amount of possible test cases based on the plurality of identified decision/condition statements;
• defining a data set over the plurality of identified decision/condition statements;
• defining data sets over the plurality of decision/condition statements, the defining data sets including defining at least two data sets for each of said identified decision/condition statements, a first data set characterized as true and a second data set characterized as false;
• finding subset relationships between all the defined data sets;
• defining a plurality of optimal data sets;
• classifying each decision/condition statement into one of a plurality of decision/condition categories including at least a sequential decision/condition category and a nested decision/condition category;
• refining the plurality of optimal data sets by overlapping, at least a subset of the plurality of decision/condition statements based on the decision/condition category classifications of the decision/condition statements, and
• calculating a reduced amount of data sets as compared with the plurality of optimal data sets based on the refined optical data sets, the reduced amount comprising an amount that provides optimal coverage with a minimal number of test cases.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having recorded thereon a software program to be executed on a computer, the non-transitory computer readable medium being able to prompt a server in the computer network to perform unit testing of a software module,

• the software module comprising an external interface comprising one or more input variables having unknown values,
• a plurality of possible program execution paths which may result from an execution of said software module,
• each of said program execution paths comprising one or more outcomes of one or more of said conditional expressions comprised in said software module,
• the software program implementing program steps of:
• identifying functional aspects of a piece of software code;
• identifying a plurality of decision/condition statements of the piece of software code;
• estimating an amount of possible test cases based on the plurality of identified decision/condition statements;
• defining a data set over the plurality of identified decision/condition statements;
• defining data sets over the plurality of decision/condition statements, the defining data sets including defining at least two data sets for each of said identified decision/condition statements, a first data set characterized as true and a second data set characterized as false;
• finding subset relationships between all the defined data sets;
• defining a plurality of optimal data sets;
• classifying each decision/condition statement into one of a plurality of decision/condition categories including at least a sequential decision/condition category and a nested decision/condition category;
• refining the plurality of optimal data sets by overlapping at least a subset of the plurality of decision/condition statements based on the decision/condition category classifications of the decision/condition statements, and
• calculating a reduced amount of data sets as compared with the plurality of optimal data sets based on the refined optical data sets the reduced amount comprising an amount that provides optimal coverage with a minimal number of test cases.