Unit tests reloaded: parameterized unit testing with symbolic execution

Abstract

Unit tests are becoming popular. Are there ways to automate the generation of good unit tests? Parameterized unit tests are unit tests that depend on inputs. PUTs describe behavior more concisely than traditional unit tests. We use symbolic execution techniques and constraint solving to find inputs for PUTs that achieve high code coverage, to turn existing unit tests into PUTs, and to generate entirely new PUTs that describe an existing implementation's behavior. Traditional testing benefits from these techniques because test inputs - including the behavior of entire classes - can often be generated automatically from compact PUTs