Scope
The TAP conference promotes research in verification and formal methods that targets the interplay of proofs and testing: the advancement of techniques of each kind and their combination, with the ultimate goal of improving software and system dependability.
Research in verification has recently seen a steady convergence of heterogeneous techniques and a synergy between the traditionally distinct areas of testing (and dynamic analysis) and of proving (and static analysis). Formal techniques, such as model checking, that produce counterexamples when verification fails are a clear example of the duality of testing and proving. The combination of static techniques such as satisfiability modulo theory and predicate abstraction has provided means of proving correctness by complementing exhaustive enumeration testing-like techniques. More practically, testing supports the cost-effective debugging of complex models and formal specifications, and is applicable in conditions that are beyond the reach of formal techniques -- for example, components whose source code is not accessible. Testing and proving are increasingly seen as complementary rather than mutually exclusive techniques.
The TAP conference aims to promote research in the intersection of testing and proving by bringing together researchers and practitioners from both areas of verification.
Topics of Interest
TAP's scope encompasses many aspects of verification technology, including foundational work, tool development, and empirical research. Its topics of interest center around the connection between proofs (and other static techniques) and testing (and other dynamic techniques). Papers are solicited on, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Verification and analysis techniques combining proofs and tests
- Program proving with the aid of testing techniques
- Deductive techniques (theorem proving, model checking, symbolic execution, SMT solving, constraint logic programming, etc.) to support testing: generating testing inputs and oracles, supporting coverage criteria, and so on.
- Program analysis techniques combining static and dynamic analysis
- Specification inference by deductive and dynamic methods
- Testing and runtime analysis of formal specifications
- Model-based testing and verification
- Using model checking to generate test cases
- Testing of verification tools and environments
- Applications of testing and proving to new domains, such as security, configuration management, and language-based techniques
- Bridging the gap between concrete and symbolic reasoning techniques
- Innovative approaches to verification such as crowdsourcing and serious games
- Case studies, tool and framework descriptions, and experience reports about combining tests and proofs
TAP 2016 accepts regular-length research papers, short papers, and tool demonstration papers. See the submission instructions for details.
Special Issue
Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit extended versions of their TAP 2016 papers for a special issue of the Springer journal Formal Aspects of Computing.