Enhanced Genetic Algorithm for MC/DC test data generation

Abstract

Structural testing is concerned with the internal structures of the written software. The targeted structural coverage criteria are usually based on the criticality of the application. Modified Condition/Decision Coverage (MC/DC) is a structural coverage criterion that was introduced to the industry by NASA. Also, MC/DC comes either highly recommended or mandated by multiple standards, including ISO 26262 from the automotive industry and DO-178C from the aviation industry due to its efficiency in bug finding while maintaining a compact test suite. However, due to its complexity, huge amount of resources are dedicated to fulfilling it. Hence, automation efforts were directed to generate test data that satisfy MC/DC. Genetic Algorithms (GA) in particular showed promising results in achieving high coverage percentages. Our results show that coverage levels could be further improved using a batch of enhancements applied on the GA search.