(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2001)
Eagan, James Robinson, Jr.; Harrold, Mary Jean; Jones, James Arthur; Stasko, John T.
Large test suites are frequently used to evaluate the correctness of software systems and to locate errors. Unfortunately, this process can generate a huge amount of data that is difficult to interpret manually. We have created a system called Tarantula that visually encodes test data to help find program errors. The system uses a principled color mapping to represent how particular source lines act in passed and failed tests. It also provides a flexible user interface for examining different perspectives that show the effects on source regions of test suites ranging from individual tests, to important subsets such as the set of failed tests, to the entire test suite.