Cooperative agent approach to quality assurance and testing Web software

Abstract

This work applies Lehman's theory of software evolution to analyse the characteristics of Web-based applications and identifies the essences and incidents that cause difficulties in developing high quality Web-based applications. It is argued that they belong to Lehman's E-type systems, hence satisfy Lehman's eight laws of software evolution. The uncertainties underlying the development of Web applications are analyzed and their implications are discussed. In order to support sustainable long term evolution of such systems, we proposed a cooperative multiagent system approach to support both development and maintenance activities. A prototype system with emphasis on testing and quality assurance is reported.