Testing Program Segments to Detect Runtime Exceptions in Java.

Runtime exceptions are difficult to be detected by static analysis tools and their occurrences in runtime often cause software systems to crash or unexcepted termination. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the existence of runtime exceptions in the program before it is executed. In this paper, we describe a novel program segment testing technique for detecting potential occurrences of runtime exceptions during the program construction process. Our testing technique is characterized by three steps. The first step is to determine the target program segment in which potential runtime exceptions may occur during the program execution. The second step is to form an appropriate environment to test the program segment by determining the values of the variables. The final step is to carry out the testing and determine whether the runtime exceptions will occur and will be handled properly during the system execution. This paper also presents a case study to demonstrate that the technique is effective.