PRFL: Predicate Rank based Fault Localization

Abstract

Fault localization (FL) is one of the most tedious, time consuming and effort-intensive task during the complete process of software debugging. Any improvement in this task leads to a reduction in total software development cost. For effective fault localization, we require a sufficient test suite comprised of the balanced pass and fail test cases. However, many times we don’t have access to these types of test suites. To solve this problem, we introduce a verification-based fault-localization technique, which prioritizes the program statements at predicate-level granularity. We use CBMC a Bounded Model Checker tool for the verification of buggy C-programs. We also consider the comprehensibility of the conditions presents a predicate to decide their suspiciousness scores. The input to our proposed approach is a buggy C-program and final outcome is a prioritized list of predicates and the executable statements using suspiciousness scores for a fault.