Abstract:
How can rigorous forms of testing be supported in a way
that is both compatible with the visual aspect of visual programming
languages, and usable by the audiences using
those languages -- even when the audience has no background
in software engineering? Visual programs are likely
to contain at least some errors, and supporting a visual
form of testing would give users a way to spot those errors
early in the program’s life. In previous work, we have
developed a visual testing methodology known as WYSIWYT,
for use in visual spreadsheet languages, and in this
work, we show formally that this methodology can be generalized
to screen transition diagrams. The algorithms and
accompanying proof of the coverage equivalence that they
ensure provide the mechanisms needed for the screen transition
paradigm to incorporate WYSIWYT testing for both
professional and end-user programming audiences.
