A Systematic Reuse Process for Automated Acceptance Tests: Construction and Elementary Evaluation

Context: Automated acceptance testing validates a product’s functionality from the customer’s perspective. Text-based automated acceptance tests (AATs) have gained popularity because they link requirements and testing. Objective: To propose and evaluate a cost-effective systematic reuse process for automated acceptance tests. Method: A systematic approach, method engineering, is used to construct a systematic reuse process for automated acceptance tests. The techniques to support searching, assessing, adapting the reusable tests are proposed and evaluated. The constructed process is evaluated using (i) qualitative feedback from software practitioners and (ii) a demonstration of the process in an industry setting. The process was evaluated for three constraints: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions. Results: The process consists of eleven activities that support development for reuse, development with reuse, and assessment of the costs and benefits of reuse. During the evaluation, practitioners found the process a useful method to support reuse. In the industrial demonstration, it was noted that the activities in the solution helped in developing an automated acceptance test with reuse faster than creating a test from scratch i.e., searching, assessment and adaptation parts. Conclusion: The process is found to be useful and relevant to the industry during the preliminary investigation.