Current State of the Art in Web Application Testing

Abstract:

The Web has had a significant impact on all aspects of our society, from business, education, government, entertainment sectors, industry, to our personal lives. The main advantages of adopting the Web for developing software products include (1) no installation costs, (2) automatic upgrade with new features for all users, (3) universal access from any machine connected to the Internet and (4) being independent of the operating system of clients.  On the downside, the use of server and browser technologies make web applications particularly error-prone and challenging to test, causing serious dependability threats. A 2003 study conducted by the Business Internet Group San Francisco (BIG-SF) [1] reported that approximately 70% of websites and web applications contain defects. In addition to financial costs, defects in web applications result in loss of revenue and credibility.

During the past decade, researchers in increasing numbers, have proposed different techniques for analyzing and testing these dynamic, fast evolving software systems. In a recent study in METU, we have surveyed 95 papers published between 2000-2013 that focus on functional testing of web applications. In this talk, I will present the findings of this survey including types of test models proposed, type of faults that received attention, which techniques and resources are used to drive test artifacts, which web technologies are targeted.

Bio:

Dr. Aysu Betin Can is an Associate Professor in Informatics Institute METU. She graduated from METU Department of Computer Engineering in 1999 and received her  PhD degree from University of California Santa Barbara in Computer Science in 2005. Her research interests are automated software verification, model checking, reliable concurrent programs, web application testing.