Test Suite Comprehension for modular and dynamic systems

Testing plug-in-based systems is challenging due to complex interactions among many different plug-ins, and variations in version and configuration. The objective of this paper is to increase our understanding of what testers and developers think and do when it comes to testing plug-in-based systems. To that end, we conduct a qualitative (grounded theory) study, in which we interview 25 senior practitioners about how they test plug-in applications based on the Eclipse plug-in architecture. The outcome is an overview of the testing practices currently used, a set of identified barriers limiting test adoption, and an explanation of how limited testing is compensated by self-hosting of projects and by involving the community. These results are supported by a structured survey of more than 150 professionals. The study reveals that unit testing plays a key role, whereas plug-in specific integration problems are identified and resolved by the community. Based on our findings, we propose a series of recommendations and areas for future research. 1This chapter appeared in the proceedings of the 2012 34th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2012). The authors of this publication are Greiler, van Deursen, and Storey.