Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Web Testing for Reliability Improvement
J E F F T I A N
∗
A N D L I M A
Abstract
In this chapter, we characterize problems for web applications, examine exist-
ing testing techniques that are potentially applicable to the web environment,
and introduce a strategy for web testing aimed at improving web software re-
liability by reducing web problems closely identified with web source contents
and navigations. Using information about web accesses and related failures ex-
tracted from existing web server logs, we build testing models that focus on the
high-usage, high-leverage subsets of web pages for effective problem detection
and reliability improvement. Related data are also used to evaluate web site op-
erational reliability in providing the requested pages as well as the potential for
reliability growth under effective testing. Case studies applying this approach
to the web sites
www.seas.smu.edu
and
www.kde.org
are included to demon-
strate its viability and effectiveness. We also outline extensions to our approach
to address testing, defect analysis, and reliability improvement issues for the
constantly evolving web as a whole by analyzing the dynamic web contents and
other information sources not covered in our current case studies.
1. Introduction ........................................ 178
2.BasicConceptsandTechniques ............................. 179
3. Web Characteristics, Challenges, and Opportunities .................. 181
3.1.CharacterizingWebProblemsandWebTestingNeeds.............. 181
3.2. Information Sources for Testing and Analyses: New Opportunities ....... 184
3.3.PreliminaryAnalysisofCommonProblemsforTwoWebSites......... 186
4.TestingIndividualWebElementsandNavigations................... 188
4.1. Web Components, Aspects, and Testing ...................... 188
4.2. Modeling and Testing Web Navigations as Finite-State Machines (FSMs)
. . .
190
*
For correspondence, contact Dr. Jeff Tian, Computer Science & Engineering Dept., Southern Methodist
University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA. Phone: +1-214-768-2861; fax: +1-214-768-3085.
