Speaker: Prof. Marcos Lordello

Abstract: Data flow (DF) testing was introduced more than forty years ago aiming at verifying a program by extensively exploring its structure. It requires tests that traverse paths in which the assignment of a value to a variable (a definition) and its subsequent reference (a use) is verified. This relationship is called definition use association (DUA). While control flow (CF) testing has become a fixture in testing software in major companies, DF testing failed to achieve acceptance in industry. The two main culprits are the amount of DUAs demanded by DF testing and the costs associated with tracking DUAs at run-time. In this talk, we present results obtained by our research group to tackle these two issues and to make DF testing scalable.

Short Bio: Marcos Lordello Chaim obtained BSc (1987), MSc (1991) and PhD (2001) degrees in Electrical Engineering from the State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil. From 1990 to 1992, he was assistant professor at São Paulo State University (UNESP), São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. After leaving UNESP, he worked at Embrapa Information Technology where he developed software for the agribusiness domain until 2005. Since then, he is a faculty member at the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (EACH), University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil. His research interests are related to how software artifacts should be analyzed to support tasks such as testing, debugging, and maintenance. Tools based on program analysis (e.g., compiling techniques, program instrumentation) have been developed by his research group to support these tasks. Additionally, tools and experiments to assess in practice the usefulness of testing, debugging, and maintenance techniques are also among his research interests.