AN XML-BASED TOOL TO SOFTWARE TESTING IN PROGRAMMING LABS

Fundamental of Programming I (FPI) was established in Degree in Telecommunication Technology Engineering (DTTE) within the Department of Telematics Engineering in 2010-2011. The purpose of these subjects is to establish the principles of computer programming. Due to the foundation of European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is based on student’s work and labs, the establishment in this subject has required development of labs with a high degree of student involvement. To achieve this target, they are asked to perform exercises in the labs. These exercises have to be reviewed by the teachers. Due to the great number of labs and students of this subject, it is necessary a tool to help teacher in testing the student’s work.

In this paper we show an XML-based tool for software testing in programming lab. This tool can be used by teachers and students. A student can test exercises carried out in labs. Teachers can check the correct running of the software developed by the student. The tool takes as input student's code, and it generates a report with the result of compilation and execution. An XML file specifies what operations must perform for each test, comprising the compilation and execution of the exercise performed. The tool allows students to test their code before sending the exercises. It is a generic tool developed in an interpreted language, used to verify all practices. The specific XML file for each practice includes the information required for testing exercises.

We are going to organize this paper as follows: First, we are going to make a discussion of previous works. Second, we are going to show the system’s architecture of the proposed tool. Next, tool’s functionalities are described. And finally, we are going to present conclusions.