On the criteria of allocating test cases under uncertainty

A partition testing strategy consists of two components: a partitioning scheme which determines the way in which the program's input domain is partitioned into subdomains, and an allocation of test cases which determines the exact number of test cases selected from each subdomain. Whereas previous research studies have suggested many partitioning schemes, there have been few guidelines as to how the test allocations should be chosen, and in practice allocations are often done in an ad hoc manner. This paper investigates the problem of determining the test allocation when a particular partitioning scheme has been chosen. We show that this problem can be formulated as a classic problem of decision-making under uncertainty, and analyze the several most common criteria used to resolve this kind of problem. We also discuss the applicability and implications of applying these criteria in the context of partition testing.