JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4, APRIL 2011, ISSN 2151-9617

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A new Testing approach using Cuckoo

Search to achieve Multi-Objective Genetic
Algorithm
Kavita Choudhary, G.N. Purohit

Abstract— Software Testing is the process of executing a program with the intent of finding errors. Software testing can also be
stated as the process of validating and verifying that a software program meets the requirements that guided its design and
development and works as expected. The verification and validation of software through dynamic testing is an area of software
engineering where progress towards automation has been slow. Software systems should be reliable and accurate. To achieve
this objective, a complete testing is required. An automated software testing can significantly reduce the cost of developing
software. This paper presents Cuckoo Search for generation of test cases. It is an optimization algorithm. Basically, Cuckoo
Search is one of the evolutionary algorithms used to achieve multi-objective genetic algorithm and was introduced in 2009.

Index Terms— Multi-objective genetic algorithm, Cuckoo Search, Test-data generation, Optimisation and Automatic Software
Testing.

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1 INTRODUCTION

S oftware Testing is an area of software engineering

which deals with finding faults in software. Software
Testing remains the primary technique used to gain
ance, increasing reliability etc.

customer’s confidence in the software. The process of test-
ing any software system is a difficult task which is time
consuming and costly. The objective of software testing is
to design a set of minimal number of test cases such that
it finds as many faults as possible. Mainly, the test data
generation activity is manual, but, nowadays, software
testing field is diverted towards automatic generation of
test cases. An automated software testing reduces the cost
of developing software. The benefits of automated soft-
ware testing are the test preparation can be done in ad-
vance, the test execution would be considerably fast and
the confidence in the testing can be increased. We pro-
pose to consider Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm ap-
proach for software testing. It provides a search metho-
dology, which uses the concept of natural evolution.
Cuckoo search (CS) [17] is an optimization algorithm de-
veloped by Xin-She Yang and Suash Deb in 2009. It was
inspired by the obligate brood parasitism of some cuckoo
species by laying their eggs in the nests of other host birds
(of other species). Some host birds can engage direct con-
flict with the intruding cuckoos. For example, if a host
bird discovers the eggs are not their own, it will either
throw these alien eggs away or simply abandon its nest
and build a new nest elsewhere. Many engineering prob-
lems do have multiple objectives i.e. maximize perfom-
————————————————
 Kavita Choudhary is with the Department of Computer Science, ITM Uni-
versity, Gurgaon.
 Prof. G.N. Purohit is with the Department of AIM&ACT, Banasthali Uni- reveal faults and kill mutants using Genetic Algorithms.
versity, Rajasthan..
2 LITERATURE SURVEY
Aljahdali et al. [1] used multi-objective genetic algorithm
based approach as one of the computational intelligence
techniques by predicting the faults during the software
testing process using software faults historical data. Mark
et al. [10] introduced a Fuzzy-Based Age Extension of
Genetic Algorithm approach to generation of effective
black-box test cases. Kalyanmoy et al. [4] have proposed a
computationally fast and elitist MOEA (Multi-Objective
Evolutionary Algorithm) based on a nondominated sort-
ing approach. Krishnamoorthi et al. [9] describes a time-
aware coverage based test suite prioritization technique.
Sami et al. [2] explained a novel approach for test case
generation based on binary search which does not require
parameter calibration. Jones et al. [7] used genetic algo-
rithm for structural testing and was based on ensuring
that all branches in the software were exercised. The fit-
ness function was based on the predicate associated with
each branch, and a value for fitness derived from ham-
ming distance. In the case of loops, the fitness was based
on the number of iterations required. The quality of test
data produced is high, because the tests can be directed
through the fitness function to the areas where faults are
most likely to be revealed. Lin et al. [11] explained how
genetic algorithms can be used to generate test cases au-
tomatically for path testing and also used Extended
Hamming Distance to derive a fitness function. Susan et
al. [8] described automatic generation of test data using
branch coverage. Masud et al. [12] proposed a model to
The model used already stored source and mutant pro-
gram (changed program) and then divided in small units.
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Instead of checking the entire program, it tries to find
fault in each unit or kills each mutant unit. Nirmal et al.
[6] used genetic algorithm for unit testing of object-
oriented software. Yong et al. [3] applied multi-
population genetic algorithm (MPGA) for generating au-
tomatic path-oriented test data which selects individuals
for free migration based on their fitness values. Erfani et
al. [5] explains a method for even generation of Pareto
Frontier in Multiobjective Optimization known as di-
rected search domain (DSD). Yang et al. [16] proposed
Cuckoo Search technique for optimization.
3 TEST CASE GENERATION USING MULTI-
OBJECTIVE GENETIC ALGORITHM
Genetic Algorithms are often used for Single-objective
problems. According to single objective concept, every
proposal of solution is represented by a vector A of the
independent variables, which is coded in a chromosome.
Whenever a new solution is proposed by the genetic algo-
rithm then the objective function is evaluated and a rank-
ing of the individuals in the current population is dynam-
ically updated, based on their fitness values. This ranking
is used in the selection procedure based on the concept of
“Survival of the fittest”. After that cross-over and muta-
tion phases are conducted. An algorithm based on these
procedures is referred to as a Steady-Single state genetic
algorithm. When using single objective genetic algorithm,
each population is designated by single objective, thus it
lack behind in providing optimal solution with respect to
coverage of the code within minimum time-span. There-
fore, multi-objective genetic algorithm is taken into con-
sideration for more optimum results.
Multi-objective genetic algorithm provides better esti-
mated accuracy and associated cost than Single-objective
genetic algorithm. For each point A in the search space,
we must consider several objective functions fi(A),
i=1,2,…, and then identify that A* which gives rise to the
best compromise among the various objective functions.
Let us consider N different objective functions fi(A),
i=1,2,…,N where A represents the vector of independent
variables identifying a generic proposal of solution. Here
solution A dominates solution B if A is better on all objec-
tives, i.e. if fi(A)>fi(B) for i=1,2,…,N. The solutions not
dominated by any other are said to be non-dominant so-
lutions. Once a population of individuals (chromosomes)
{A} has been created, then their ranking should be done.
All non-dominant individuals in the current population
are identified. The best solution assigned the rank 1 and
then the next set of non-dominated individuals are identi-
fied and assigned rank 2. This process continues until
every solution in the population has been ranked.
4 PROPOSED ALGORITHM
In this paper, we propose Multi-objective genetic
algorithm for software testing. In order to achieve Multi-
objective optimization, we use a type of evolutionary al-
gorithm i.e. Cuckoo Search for the generation of test cas-
118
es. Till now, Cuckoo Search is used for optimization.
Yang and Deb introduces Cuckoo Search in 2009. Cuckoo
Search [16] follows three rules :- 1) Each Cuckoo lays one
egg at a time, and dump it’s egg in randomly chosen nest;
2) The best nest with high quality of eggs will carry over
to the next generations; and 3) The egg laid by a Cuckoo
is discovered by host bird with a probability [0,1]. For
optimization, the quality or fitness of a solution is propor-
tional to the value of the objective function. In case of test
data generation using cuckoo search, we first initialize the
test cases from the domain of the program by considering
that each egg in a nest represents a solution, and a cuckoo
egg represent a new solution. The aim is to use the new
and potentially better solution (cuckoos) to replace a not-
so-good solution in the nest.
Algorithm (Cuckoo search for testing)
Initialize test cases from the domain of the program to
be tested at random;
do
(/* determine which test case should survive with fit-
ness function*/)
Objective function: f(A), A=(a1,a2,a3,...........,ak);
Generate an initial population of n host nests;
while ((MaxGeneration|| (Stop Condition))
(/*Get a cuckoo (solution) ‘r’ randomly and evaluate it
on the basis of fitness function Fr */)
Fr f(Ar)
(/*For Maximization */)
Select another cuckoo‘k’ randomly;
if(Fr > Fk)
replace ‘k’ by the new solution
end if
end while
(/* Purpose: To keep the best solution */)
Crossover (Population);
Produce the next new generation of test cases;
Mutate the new generation of test cases;
Evaluate the test cases;
According to the algorithm, at first, we randomly gen-
erate set of initial test cases (population of n host nests).
Then each test case is modelled as a chromosome
representing input values. Next each chromosome is eva-
luated on the basis of fitness function. Higher fitness is
the better solution. Good chromosomes are those that
discover the errors. Fitter individuals have more chance
to reproduce. Based on fitness value, chromosomes are
selected to reproduce offspring for a new generation. Fit-
ness function is based on Cuckoo Search where we select
a cuckoo (individual solution i.e. ‘r’) randomly and eva-
luate it by using Fr f(Ar) for maximization. Then, again
choose a cuckoo (solution) ‘k’ randomly. If value of fit-
ness function for solution ‘r’ is greater than fitness func-
tion for solution ‘k’, then we replace solution ‘k’ by new
solution. The search proceeds through a number of gen-
erations until the termination condition has been met.
After evaluating on the basis of fitness function, crossover
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and mutation phase take place. The aim is to eliminate
bad test cases that are not able to expose any error, while
increasing the number of good test cases that have a high
probability of producing an erroneous output.
5 CONCLUSION
Although a number of testing techniques and adequacy
criteria have been suggested in the literature but it has
been observed that no technique/criteria is sufficient
enough to ensure the delivery of fault free software con-
sequential to the need of automatic test case generation
to minimize the cost of testing. Effective and efficient
test data generation is one of the major challenging and
timeconsuming tasks within the software testing
process. Researchers have proposed different methods
to generate test data automatically; however, those me-
thods suffer from different drawbacks. In contarst to it,
a Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm based approach
that tries to generate a set of test data that is expected to
cover a given set of target paths. Here, we have used
Cuckoo Search for test data generation, which provides
Multi-objective optimisation. Test data is often generat-
ed by hand, so demand for automatic test data genera-
tion is high in these sectors. The overall aim is to devel-
op a self-learning algorithm that has the ability to
process and incorporate new information as the work
environment changes. The primary objective is to pro-
pose a Multi-objective GA-based software test data ge-
nerator and to demonstrate its feasibility.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We wish to thank our institution i.e. ITM University and
Banasthali University for their co-operation.
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Kavita Choudhary is Assistant Professor in Department of Comput-
er Science (ITM University, Gurgaon). Currently, she is pursuing
Phd. from Banasthali University. She did her Post graduation with
distinction from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in 2010.
She did her graduation, B.Tech (CSE),in honors from University of
Rajasthan in 2005.She have more than five year of teaching expe-
rience. Her core subjects are Software Engineering, Computer Net-
works and Software Testing. Member of CSI.
Prof. G.N.Purohit is an emeritus professor at Banasthali University in
AIM & ACT department. He is Dean over there. His areas of specialization
are Discrete Mathematics, Computer networks and Software Engineering.