(It would be nice to see some papers on Haskell automated testing here)

John

AST 2012

7th IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Automation of Software Test

http://ast2012.org

At ICSE 2012 (http://www.ifi.uzh.ch/icse2012/)

Zurich, Switzerland, 2-3 June 2012

IMPORTANT DATES:

Submission deadline:

               February 17, 2012

Notification of acceptance:

               March 19, 2012

Camera-Ready version:

               March 29, 2012

Workshop dates:

               June 2 - 3 2012

In software development practice, testing accounts for as much as 50%

of the total development effort. It is therefore imperative to reduce

the cost and improve the effectiveness of software testing by

automating the testing process. In the past decades, a great amount of

research effort has been spent on automatic test case generation,

automatic test oracles, etc. Test automation is also becoming an

important part of software testing practice.

The workshop is the 7th edition of the successful AST workshops held

at ICSE 2006-2011. It will provide researchers and practitioners with

a forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, understanding of the

problems, visions for the future, and promising solutions to the

problems. The workshop will also provide a platform for researchers

and developers of testing tools to work together to identify the

problems in the theory and practice of software test automation and to

set an agenda and lay the foundation for future development.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

The workshop focuses on bridging the gap between the theory and

practice of software test automation. The topics of interest include,

but are not limited to, the following:

1) Methodology: Software test automation in the context of various

software development methodologies, such as model-driven,

component-based, agile, test-driven, product lines, service-oriented,

agent-oriented, and aspect-oriented methodologies, and in evolutionary

development.

2) Technology: Automation of test techniques and methods used in

test-related activities, support for software testing methods, and

applications to specific types of software in different application

domains.

3) Software testing tools and environments: Issues in the development,

operation, maintenance and evolution of software testing tools and

environments.

4) Experiments, empirical studies and experience reports and vision of

the future of software test automation. The AST 2012 workshop focuses

on a special topic on the Automation of Security Testing. Submissions

on this topic are especially encouraged, but papers on other topics

are also welcome.

CHARETTE DISCUSSIONS

The workshop continues the successful charette discussions of previous

years. This year, the charette discussion sessions will focus on the

topic of automation of security testing.

INDUSTRIAL CASE STUDIES

There will also be an Industrial Case Studies session at the workshop,

with presentations reporting the real state of the practice in

automation of software testing. Test practitioners are especially

encouraged to contribute their experiences and insights on test

automation. Topics for this session include, but are not limited to,

the following: new tools, new best practices, process innovations

related to test automation, gaps in existing vendor toolsets, ideas

and visions for near-term research work.

SUBMISSIONS

Two types of submissions are invited: regular papers and industrial

case study papers. The former presents research in the area of

software test automation, while the latter presents practical

applications of test automation. Both types of papers are limited to 7

pages in IEEE Conference Proceedings Format. All papers submitted to

the workshop must be unpublished original work and should not be

simultaneously under review or submitted elsewhere. All submissions

must be in English and in either PDF or postscript format through

online upload to the workshop submission website at the following URL:

http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=AST2012

All submissions will be reviewed by three PC members. Regular papers

will be judged on the basis of their clarity, relevance, originality,

and contribution. Case study papers will be judged on the basis of

their clarity, relevance, and interest to the workshop participants.

PUBLICATION OF PAPERS

The accepted workshop papers including both regular and case study

papers will be published in the AST 2012 Proceedings and included in

the IEEE Digital Libraries. Workshop attendees will receive a memory

stick with both ICSE 2012 and AST 2012 proceedings on it. The

presentations slides will be published on the AST 2012

website. Authors of accepted papers are required to register for the

workshop and present the paper at the workshop in order for the paper

to be included in the proceedings and Digital Libraries.

A journal special issue to publish revised and extended versions of

selected best papers is pending.