Towards Mutation Analysis of Android Apps
Abstract—Android applications (apps) have the highest number
of releases, purchases, and downloads among mobile apps. However,
quality is a known problem, and hence there is significant
research interest in better methods for testing Android apps. We
identify three reasons to extend mutation testing to Android apps.
First, current testing approaches for Android apps use simple
coverage criteria such as statement coverage; extending mutation
coverage to Android apps promises more sophisticated testing.
Second, testing researchers inventing other test methods for
Android apps need to evaluate the quality of their test selection
strategies, which mutation excels at. Finally, some approaches
to test generation for Android apps, specifically combinatorial
testing approaches, generate very large numbers of tests. This is
particularly problematic because running Android tests is slow.
For these reasons, this paper proposes an innovative mutation
analysis approach specific for Android apps. We define mutation
operators specific to the characteristics of Android apps, such
as the extensive use of XML files to specify behavior. We have
implemented a prototype tool for generating, installing, and
executing mutants on Android systems. We report preliminary
results that show that mutation testing is feasible for Android
apps, and we identify challenges that need to be addressed for
mutation analysis to be effective.
Index Terms—Android, Software Testing, Mutation Testing
Towards Mutation Analysis of Android AppsAbstract—Android applications (apps) have the highest numberof releases, purchases, and downloads among mobile apps. However,quality is a known problem, and hence there is significantresearch interest in better methods for testing Android apps. Weidentify three reasons to extend mutation testing to Android apps.First, current testing approaches for Android apps use simplecoverage criteria such as statement coverage; extending mutationcoverage to Android apps promises more sophisticated testing.Second, testing researchers inventing other test methods forAndroid apps need to evaluate the quality of their test selectionstrategies, which mutation excels at. Finally, some approachesto test generation for Android apps, specifically combinatorialtesting approaches, generate very large numbers of tests. This isparticularly problematic because running Android tests is slow.For these reasons, this paper proposes an innovative mutationanalysis approach specific for Android apps. We define mutationoperators specific to the characteristics of Android apps, suchas the extensive use of XML files to specify behavior. We haveimplemented a prototype tool for generating, installing, andexecuting mutants on Android systems. We report preliminaryresults that show that mutation testing is feasible for Androidapps, and we identify challenges that need to be addressed formutation analysis to be effective.
Index Terms—Android, Software Testing, Mutation Testing
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