Regression Model Checking

Authors

Guowei YangFollow
Matthew B. Dwyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Gregg Rothermel, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2009

Comments

Published in IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance, 2009. ICSM 2009. Copyright 2009 IEEE. Used by permission.

Abstract

Model checking is a promising technique for verifying program behavior and is increasingly finding usage in industry. To date, however, researchers have primarily considered model checking of single versions of programs. It is well understood that model checking can be very expensive for large, complex programs. Thus, simply reapplying model checking techniques on subsequent versions of programs as they evolve, in the limited time that is typically available for validating new releases, presents challenges. To address these challenges, we have developed a new technique for regression model checking (RMC), that applies model checking incrementally to new versions of systems. We report results of an empirical study examining the effectiveness of our technique; our results show that it is significantly faster than traditional model checking.