Orthogonal Array Approach for Test Case Optimization

Abstract: In Software Testing, we try to cover all test scenarios and test cases to test an application/product to achieve 100% test coverage. However, most of the times we do not have the leisure of time to test all the test cases [1]. In such cases, we have to balance between the specified time and quality so that we achieve maximum test coverage. This becomes a very big challenge for the Software Test Managers.

According to Gupta [6], managers adopt multiple strategies to optimize the testing effort and achieve the right balance between Cost, Schedule and Quality. Striking a right balance decides the success or failure of any software solution.
In this paper, we have proposed a technique called Orthogonal Array Approach for reducing the number of test cases that needs to be tested for any given software and hence improve the efficiency of testing. With this technique, reduced numbers of test cases are generated automatically. Fewer test cases would reduce time consumption of the testing as a whole and hence the cost of testing will also reduce. The details of the technique are described along with two case studies for illustration. The advantages of the method are clearly brought out with the help of analysis graphs.

Keywords: Software Testing, Test Case Generation, Test Case Reduction, Orthogonal Array Approach.