Multiple fault localization of software programs: A systematic literature review

Multiple fault localization (MFL) is the act of identifying the locations of multiple faults (more than one fault) in a faulty software program. This is known to be more complicated, tedious, and costly in comparison to the traditional practice of presuming that a software contains a single fault. D...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information and software technology Vol. 124; p. 106312
Main Authors: Zakari, Abubakar, Lee, Sai Peck, Abreu, Rui, Ahmed, Babiker Hussien, Rasheed, Rasheed Abubakar
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2020
Subjects:
Fault localization
Multiple faults
One-bug-at-a-time (OBA)
Parallel debugging
Program debugging
Multiple faults
Fault localization
Program debugging
Parallel debugging
One-bug-at-a-time (OBA)
ISSN:0950-5849, 1873-6025
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Multiple fault localization (MFL) is the act of identifying the locations of multiple faults (more than one fault) in a faulty software program. This is known to be more complicated, tedious, and costly in comparison to the traditional practice of presuming that a software contains a single fault. Due to the increasing interest in MFL by the research community, a broad spectrum of MFL debugging approaches and solutions have been proposed and developed. The aim of this study is to systematically review existing research on MFL in the software fault localization (SFL) domain. This study also aims to identify, categorize, and synthesize relevant studies in the research domain. Consequently, using an evidence-based systematic methodology, we identified 55 studies relevant to four research questions. The methodology provides a systematic selection and evaluation process with rigorous and repeatable evidence-based studies selection process. The result of the systematic review shows that research on MFL is gaining momentum with stable growth in the last 5 years. Three prominent MFL debugging approaches were identified, i.e. One-bug-at-a-time debugging approach (OBA), parallel debugging approach, and multiple-bug-at-a-time debugging approach (MBA), with OBA debugging approach being utilized the most. The study concludes with some identified research challenges and suggestions for future research. Although MFL is becoming of grave concern, existing solutions in the field are less mature. Studies utilizing real faults in their experiments are scarce. Concrete solutions to reduce MFL debugging time and cost by adopting an approach such as MBA debugging approach are also less, which require more attention from the research community.
ISSN:0950-5849
1873-6025
DOI:10.1016/j.infsof.2020.106312