1. Tao Xie
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Part of the research work described in this talk was done in collaboration with the Pex team and SoftwareAnalytics
Group @Microsoft Research, students @IllinoisASE, and other collaborators

2.  Research impact: inspiring/impactful
ideas/directions/subareas… for researchers
 Example: model checking
 Practice impact: Practice adoption of
tools/systems/technologies… for practitioners
 Some examples discussed in this talk
 Societal impact: inspiring/impactful
ideas/thinking/awareness… for general public
 Example: computational thinking, privacy, medical-
device security, MOOCs, …

3.  Publishing research results  technologies
there adopted by companies, e.g.,
ICSE 00 Daikon paper by Ernst et al.  Agitar Agitator
https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/pubs/invariants-relevance-icse2000.pdf
ASE 04 Rostra paper by Xie et al.  Parasoft Jtest improvement
http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/ase04.pdf
PLDI/FSE 05 DART/CUTE papers by Sen et al.  MSR SAGE, Pex
http://srl.cs.berkeley.edu/~ksen/papers/dart.pdf
http://srl.cs.berkeley.edu/~ksen/papers/C159-sen.pdf
…

4.  Commercializing research results in startup 
tools/products used by companies, e.g.,
Reactis®
…

5.  Transferring research results to product groups
 tools/products used inside company or
outside, e.g.,
SAGE
Flash Fill
…
CloudBuild
Tools for Software Engineers
Fakes

6.  Release open source infrastructures or libraries
to engage academic/industrial communities to
use and contribute, e.g.,
▪ MPI/PETSc by Bill Gropp et al.
▪ Charm++ by Laxmikant (Sanjay) Kale et al.
▪ LLVM byVikram Adve, Chris Lattner, et al.
“The openness of the LLVM technology and the quality of its architecture
and engineering design are key factors in understanding the success it has
had both in academia and industry.”
KLEE? JPF?FindBugs?Shipshape? Soot? WALA? …

7.  50 years of automated debugging research
 N papers  only 5 evaluated with actual programmers
“
” [Parnin&Orso ISSTA’11]
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2001445

8.  Human
 Expensive, incomplete, …
 Brute Force
 Pairwise, predefined data, etc…
 Tool Automation!!

9. Running Symbolic PathFinder ...
…
============================================
========== results
no errors detected
============================================
========== statistics
elapsed time: 0:00:02
states: new=4, visited=0,
backtracked=4, end=2
search: maxDepth=3,
constraints=0
choice generators: thread=1, data=2
heap: gc=3, new=271, free=22
instructions: 2875
max memory: 81MB
loaded code: classes=71, methods=884
…
9

10.  Pex (released on May 2008)
 Shipped with Visual Studio 15 as IntelliTest
 30,388 download# (20 months, Feb 08-Oct 09)
 22,466 download# (10 months, Apr 13-Jan 14): Code Digger
 Active user community: 1,436 forum posts during ~3 years
(Oct 08- Nov 11)
 Moles (released on Sept 2009)
 Shipped with Visual Studio 12 as Fakes
 “Provide Microsoft Fakes w/ allVisual Studio editions” got
1,457 community votes

11. https://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio-2015/suggestions/6773265-make-intellitest-available-to-visual-studio-profes
https://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio-2015/suggestions/2216195-include-pex-and-moles-with-all-visual-studio-editi

12. 1,753,594 clicked 'Ask Pex!'
http://pex4fun.com/

13. https://www.codehunt.com/

14. Code Hunt can identify
top coders
http://programming2015.cstnet.cn/

15. Secret Implementation
class Secret {
public static int Puzzle(int x) {
if (x <= 0) return 1;
return x * Puzzle(x-1);
}
}
Player Implementation
class Player {
public static int Puzzle(int x) {
return x;
}
}
classTest {
public static void Driver(int x) {
if (Secret.Puzzle(x) != Player.Puzzle(x))
throw new Exception(“Mismatch”);
}
}
behavior
Secret Impl == Player Impl
15

16. “It really got me *excited*.The part that got me most is
about spreading interest in teaching CS: I do think that it’s
REALLY great for teaching | learning!”
“I used to love the first person shooters and the
satisfaction of blowing away a whole team of
Noobies playing Rainbow Six, but this is far more
fun.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to constrain myself to spend just an hour
or so a day on this really exciting stuff, as I’m really stuffed
with work.”
X

17.  NOT Random:
 Cheap, Fast
 “It passed a thousand tests” feeling
 …
 But Dynamic Symbolic Execution:
e.g., Pex, CUTE,EXE
 White box
 Constraint Solving

18. Code to generate inputs for:
Constraints to solve
a!=null
a!=null &&
a.Length>0
a!=null &&
a.Length>0 &&
a[0]==1234567890
void CoverMe(int[] a)
{
if (a == null) return;
if (a.Length > 0)
if (a[0] == 1234567890)
throw new Exception("bug");
}
Observed constraints
a==null
a!=null &&
!(a.Length>0)
a!=null &&
a.Length>0 &&
a[0]!=1234567890
a!=null &&
a.Length>0 &&
a[0]==1234567890
Data
null
{}
{0}
{123…}
a==null
a.Length>0
a[0]==123…
T
TF
T
F
F
Execute&MonitorSolve
Choose next path
Done: There is no path left.
Negated condition

19. There are decision procedures for individual path
conditions, but…
 Number of potential paths grows exponentially with
number of branches
 Reachable code not known initially
 Without guidance, same loop might be unfolded
forever
Fitnex search strategy
[Xie et al. DSN 09]
http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/dsn09-fitnex.pdf

20. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
TestLoop(0, {0})
Path condition:
!(x == 90)
↓
New path condition:
(x == 90)
↓
New test input:
TestLoop(90, {0})

21. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
TestLoop(90, {0})
Path condition:
(x == 90) && !(y[0] ==15) && !(x == 110)
↓
New path condition:
(x == 90) && (y[0] ==15)
↓
New test input:
TestLoop(90, {15})

22. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
TestLoop(90, {15})
Path condition:
(x == 90) && (y[0] ==15)
&& !(x+1 == 110)
↓
New path condition:
(x == 90) && (y[0] ==15)
&& (x+1 == 110)
↓
New test input:
No solution!?

23. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
TestLoop(90, {15})
Path condition:
(x == 90) && (y[0] ==15)
&& (0 < y.Length)
&& !(1 < y.Length)
&& !(x+1 == 110)
↓
New path condition:
(x == 90) && (y[0] ==15)
&& (0 < y.Length)
&& (1 < y.Length)
 Expand array size

24. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
TestLoop(90, {15})
We can have infinite paths!
Manual analysis  need at
least 20 loop iterations to
cover the target branch
Exploring all paths up to 20
loop iterations is infeasible:
220 paths

25. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
Key observations: with respect to the
coverage target
 not all paths are equally promising for
branch-node flipping
 not all branch nodes are equally
promising to flip
• Our solution:
– Prefer to flip branch nodes on the most promising paths
– Prefer to flip the most promising branch nodes on paths
– Fitness function to measure “promising” extents
TestLoop(90, {15, 0})
TestLoop(90, {15, 15})
[Xie et al. DSN 2009]
http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/dsn09-fitnex.pdf

26.  FF computes fitness value (distance between the
current state and the goal state)
 Search tries to minimize fitness value
[Tracey et al. 98, Liu at al. 05, …]

27. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
Fitness function: |110 – x |

28. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
(90, {0}) 20
(90, {15}) 19
(90, {15, 0}) 19
(90, {15, 15}) 18
(90, {15, 15, 0}) 18
(90, {15, 15, 15}) 17
(90, {15, 15, 15, 0}) 17
(90, {15, 15, 15, 15}) 16
(90, {15, 15, 15, 15, 0}) 16
(90, {15, 15, 15, 15, 15}) 15
…
FitnessValue(x, y)
Fitness function: |110 – x |
Give preference to flip paths with better fitness values
We still need to address which branch node to flip on paths …

29. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
(90, {0}) 20
(90, {15})  flip b4 19
(90, {15, 0})  flip b2 19
(90, {15, 15})  flip b4 18
(90, {15, 15, 0})  flip b2 18
(90, {15, 15, 15})  flip b4 17
(90, {15, 15, 15, 0})  flip b2 17
(90, {15, 15, 15, 15})  flip b4 16
(90, {15, 15, 15, 15, 0})  flip b2 16
(90, {15, 15, 15, 15, 15})  flip b4 15
…
FitnessValue(x, y)
Fitness function: |110 – x |
Branch b1: i < y.Length
Branch b2: i >= y.Length
Branch b3: y[i] == 15
Branch b4: y[i] != 15
•Flipping Branch b4 (b3) gives us average 1
(-1) fitness gain (loss)
•Flipping branch b2 (b1) gives us average 0
fitness gain (loss)

30.  For a flipped node leading to Fnew, find out
the old fitness value Fold before flipping
• Assign Fitness Gain (Fold – Fnew) for the branch of the
flipped node
• Assign Fitness Gain (Fnew – Fold ) for the other branch of
the branch of the flipped node
 Compute the average fitness gain for each
branch over time

31.  Each branch node candidate for being flipped is
prioritized based on its composite fitness value:
• (Fitness value of node – Fitness gain of its branch)
 Select first the one with the best composite
fitness value

32.  Pex (released on May 2008)
 Shipped with Visual Studio 15 as IntelliTest
 30,388 download# (20 months, Feb 08-Oct 09)
 22,466 download# (10 months, Apr 13-Jan 14): Code Digger
 Active user community: 1,436 forum posts during ~3
years (Oct 08- Nov 11)
 Moles (released on Sept 2009)
 Shipped with Visual Studio 12 as Fakes
 “Provide Microsoft Fakes w/ allVisual Studio editions” got
1,457 community votes
How to make such
successful case????

33. voidTestAdd(ArrayList a, object o) {
Assume.IsTrue(a!=null);
int i = a.Count;
a.Add(o);
Assert.IsTrue(a[i] == o);
}
Parameterized UnitTests Supported by Pex
Moles/Fakes
Code Digger
Pex4Fun/Code Hunt
 Surrounding (Moles/Fakes)
 Simplifying (Code Digger)
 Retargeting (Pex4Fun/Code Hunt)

34.  Developer/manager: “Who is using your tool?”
 Pex team: “Do you want to be the first?”
 Developer/manager: “I love your tool but no.”
Tool Adoption by (Mass)Target Users
Tool Shipping withVisual Studio
Macro Perspective
Micro Perspective

35.  Developer: “Code digger generates a lot of “0” strings
as input. I can’t find a way to create such a string via my
own C# code. Could any one show me a C# snippet? I
meant zero terminated string.”
 Pex team: “In C#, a 0 in a string does not mean zero-
termination. It’s just yet another character in the string
(a very simple character where all bits are zero), and
you can create as Pex shows the value: “0”.”
 Developer: “Your tool generated “0””
 Pex team: “What did you expect?”
 Developer: “Marc.”

36.  Developer: “Your tool generated a test called Foo001. I
don’t like it.”
 Pex team: “What did you expect?”
 Developer:“Foo_Should_Fail_When_Bar_Is_Negative.”

37. Object Creation messages suppressed
(related to Covana by Xiao et al. [ICSE’11])
ExceptionTreeView
Exploration TreeView
Exploration ResultsView
http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/icse11-covana.pdf

38. public bool TestLoop(int x, int[] y) {
if (x == 90) {
for (int i = 0; i < y.Length; i++)
if (y[i] == 15)
x++;
if (x == 110)
return true;
}
return false;
}
Key observations: with respect to the
coverage target
 not all paths are equally promising for
branch-node flipping
 not all branch nodes are equally
promising to flip
• Our solution:
– Prefer to flip branch nodes on the most promising paths
– Prefer to flip the most promising branch nodes on paths
– Fitness function to measure “promising” extents
Fitnex by Xie et al. [DSN’09]
To avoid local optimal or biases, the
fitness-guided strategy is integrated
with Pex’s fairness search strategies
http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/dsn09-fitnex.pdf

39.  “Simply one mouse click and then everything would work
just perfectly”
 Often need environment isolation w/ Moles/Fakes or factory
methods, …
 “One mouse click, a test generation tool would detect all
or most kinds of faults in the code under test”
 Developer: “Your tool only finds null references.”
 Pex team: “Did you write any assertions?”
 Developer: “Assertion???”
 “I do not need test generation; I already practice unit
testing (and/orTDD).Test generation does not fit into the
TDD process”

40. Gathered feedback from target tool users
 Directly, e.g., via
 MSDN Pex forum, tech support, outreach to MS engineers and
.NET user groups
 Indirectly, e.g., via
 interactions with MSVisual Studio team (a tool vendor to its huge
user base)
 Motivations of Moles
 Refactoring testability issue faced resistance in practice
 Observation at Agile 2008: high attention on mock
objects and tool supports

41.  Win-win collaboration model
 Win (Ind Lab): longer-term research innovation, man power,
research impacts, …
 Win (Univ): powerful infrastructure, relevant/important
problems in practice, both research and industry impacts, …
 Industry-located Collaborations
 Faculty visits, e.g., Fitnex, Pex4Fun
 Student internships, e.g., FloPSy, DyGen, state cov
 Academia-locatedCollaborations

42. Academia-located Collaborations
 Immediate indirect impacts, e.g.,
 Reggae [ASE’09s]  Rex
 MSeqGen [FSE’09]  DyGen
 Guided Cov [ICSM’10]  state coverage
 Long-term indirect impacts, e.g.,
 DySy by Csallner et al. [ICSE’08]
 Seeker [OOPSLA’11]
 Covana [ICSE’11]

43.  Pex  practice impacts
 Moles/Fakes, Code Digger, Pex4Fun/Code Hunt
 Lessons in transferring tools
 Started as (Evolved) Dream
 Chicken and Egg
 Human Factors
 Best vs.Worst Cases
 Tool Users’ Stereotypical Mindset or Habits
 Practitioners’Voice
 Collaboration w/ Academia

44.  Start a startup
 but desirable to have right people (e.g., former students) to
start
 Release free tools/libraries to aim for adoption
 but a lot of efforts to be invested on “non-researchy” stuffs
 Collaborate with industrial research labs
 but many research lab projects may look like univ. projects
 Collaborate with industrial product groups
 but many probs faced by product groups may not be
“researchy”

45.  NikolaiTillmann, Jonathan de Halleux, and Tao Xie. Transferring an Automated Test Generation
Tool to Practice: From Pex to Fakes and Code Digger. In Proceedings of ASE 2014, Experience
Papers. http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/ase14-pexexperiences.pdf
 Jian-Guang Lou, Qingwei Lin, Rui Ding, Qiang Fu, Dongmei Zhang, and Tao Xie. Software Analytics
for Incident Management of Online Services: An Experience Report. In Proceedings ASE 2013,
Experience Paper. http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/ase13-sas.pdf
 Dongmei Zhang, Shi Han,Yingnong Dang, Jian-Guang Lou, Haidong Zhang, andTao Xie. Software
Analytics in Practice. IEEE Software, Special Issue on the Many Faces of Software Analytics, 2013.
http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/ieeesoft13-softanalytics.pdf
 Yingnong Dang, Dongmei Zhang, Song Ge, Chengyun Chu,Yingjun Qiu, and Tao Xie. XIAO:Tuning
Code Clones at Hands of Engineers in Practice. In Proceedings of ACSAC 2012.
http://taoxie.cs.illinois.edu/publications/acsac12-xiao.pdf

46. Questions ?
https://sites.google.com/site/asergrp/
http://research.microsoft.com/pex
http://research.microsoft.com/sa/
taoxie@illinois.edu

47.  Start a startup
 but desirable to have right people (e.g., former students) to
start
 Release free tools/libraries to aim for adoption
 but a lot of efforts to be invested on “non-researchy” stuffs
 Collaborate with industrial research labs
 but many research lab projects may look like univ. projects
 Collaborate with industrial product groups
 but many probs faced by product groups may not be
“researchy”