Test order for inter-class integration testing of object-oriented software

One major problem in inter class integration testing of object oriented software is to determine the order in which classes are tested. This test order, referred to as inter class test order, is important since it affects the order in which classes are developed, the use of test stubs and drivers for classes, and the preparation of test cases. The paper first proposes a number of desirable properties for inter class test order and then presents a new inter class test order strategy. In this new strategy, classes are integrated according to their major and minor level numbers. Major level numbers of classes are determined according to inheritance and aggregation relations between classes, where an aggregation relation refers to a class' inclusion of objects of another class. For classes with the same major level number, their minor level numbers are determined according to association relations between these classes, where an association relation refers to a class' dependency (other than inheritance and aggregation relations) on another class.