Abstract:
QuickCheck is a combination of a tool and method to support property
based testing. Quviq is a start-up that commercializes the innovative
idea of using properties as objects for software testing.
With QuickCheck one can describe software properties in a concise way,
and one can automatically generate thousands of test cases from them.
The method has successfully been used in the telecommunication industry
for network applications, and shown that random sequences of API calls
generated from our properties can test much more, much more quickly,
than can traditional, manually constructed test cases. The vast number
of formats and options that these modern service-oriented applications
support cannot efficiently be dealt with through a manual approach.
Property-based testing will deliver more effective tests, more
efficiently, and thus deliver economic benefits. At the same time, the
properties are far easier to maintain than manually written test cases.
Instead of a ratio of 2:1 for lines of product code versus lines of test
code, we approach 50:1 and test more nevertheless.
Testing with properties as objects instead of manually specified test
cases improves the competitiveness of software developers, since they
can deliver higher quality software for a lower price. It also allows
collaborating companies to improve the definition of their software
interfaces and therewith improve the compatibility between their services.
