Hermes: A Tool for Testing Mobile Device Applications

Smart mobile devices are ubiquitous in today's society. Such devices are being used to host increasingly complex applications and users continue to have high expectations concerning the quality of mobile application software. Testing is an established means of identifying defects and ultimately promotes confidence in the quality of a software application. However, testing of mobile device applications is challenging due to their interactive nature, the inherent heterogeneity in underlying mobile devices, and devices' limited resources. To address these difficulties, we have developed Hermes, a framework for writing tests plus a distributed run-time for automating test execution and reporting. Hermes offers support for multi-faceted tests that allow developers to verify an application's behaviour with respect to its function, aesthetics, and operating environment. In addition, Hermes' has been designed to be extensible and is application independent. A partial prototype of Hermes' design has been evaluated and the results give evidence in support of the claim that use of Hermes is more effective in detecting defects than using manual testing techniques. While Hermes is more expensive to employ than manual testing, we expect that further anticipated development will lead to an improved cost/benefit ratio.