Articles

MTR framework for teaching model-based testing

Published:
2026-06-04
Authors
View
Keywords
License

Copyright (c) 2026 Gábor Árpád Németh, Máté István Lugosi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How To Cite
Selected Style: APA
Németh, G. Á., & Lugosi, M. I. (2026). MTR framework for teaching model-based testing. Teaching Mathematics and Computer Science, 24(1), 127-144. https://doi.org/10.5485/TMCS.2026.16815
Abstract

In the current article, it is presented how Model ≫ Test ≫ Relax (MTR), a free and open-source, extended finite state machine model-based testing framework can be used for education purposes. With the education-related features of MTR – such as graph visualizations, subsequence creation, test suite export – the students are able to understand the concept behind model-based testing, the working of different model conversion and test generation algorithms. With project works, the students use the MTR framework for the automatic test design of a simplified, small scale realworld example. The framework also provides a simulation script for comparing the complexities and fault detection capabilities of different test generation algorithms.

Subject Classification: 68M15

References
  1. Ammann, P., & Offutt, J. (2016). Introduction to software testing (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316771273
  2. Artho, C., Seidl, M., Gros, Q., Choi, E.-H., Kitamura, T., Mori, A., Ramler, R., & Yamagata, Y. (2015). Model-based testing of stateful APIs with Modbat. In Proceedings of the 30th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE 2015) (pp. 858–863). IEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ASE.2015.95
  3. Chow, T. S. (1978). Testing software design modeled by finite-state machines. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 4 (3), 178–187. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.1978.231496
  4. Dorofeeva, R., El-Fakih, K., & Yevtushenko, N. (2005). An improved conformance testing method. In F. Wang (Ed.), Formal Techniques for Networked and Distributed Systems – FORTE 2005 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 3731) (pp. 204–218). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/11562436_16
  5. Edmonds, J., & Johnson, E. L. (1973). Matching, Euler tours and the Chinese postman. Mathematical Programming, 5 (1), 88–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01580113
  6. Forgács, I., & Kovács, A. (2019). Practical test design. BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
  7. Gutin, G., Yeo, A., & Zverovich, A. (2002). Traveling salesman should not be greedy: domination analysis of greedy-type heuristics for the TSP. Discrete Applied Mathematics, 117 (1-3), 81–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-218X(01)00195-0
  8. Hercog, D. (2020). Protocol specification and design. In Communication protocols. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50405-2_2
  9. Holzmann, G. J. (1990). Design and validation of computer protocols. Prentice-Hall.
  10. Luo, G., Petrenko, A., & v. Bochmann, G. (1995). Selecting test sequences for partially-specified nondeterministic finite state machines. In T. Mizuno, T. Higashino, & N. Shiratori (Eds.), Proceedings of the IFIP WG6.1 7th International Workshop on Protocol Test systems VI (pp. 95–110). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-34883-4_6
  11. Naito, S., & Tsunoyama, M. (1981). Fault detection for sequential machines by transition tours. In Proceedings of the 11th IEEE Fault-Tolerant Computing Conference (FTCS 1981) (pp. 238–243). IEEE Computer Society Press.
  12. Németh, G. Á. (2020). Teaching model-based testing. In Teaching Mathematics and Computer Science, 18 (1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5485/TMCS.2020.0469
  13. Németh, G. Á. (2025). Model-based mutation testing for Finite State Machine specifications with MTR. Infocommunications Journal, 17 (3), 84–91. https://doi.org/10.36244/ICJ.2025.3.10
  14. Németh, G. Á, & Lugosi, M. I. (2021). Test generation algorithm for the All-Transition-State criteria of Finite State Machines. Infocommunications Journal, 13 (3), 56–65. https://doi.org/10.36244/ICJ.2021.3.6
  15. Németh, G. Á, & Lugosi, M. I. (2024). MTR Model-Based Testing Framework. Infocommunications Journal, 16 (2), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.36244/ICJ.2024.2.2
  16. RFC 6749: The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework (2012). Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6749
  17. Zafar, M. N., Afzal, W., Enoiu, E., Stratis, A., Arrieta, A., & Sagardui, G. (2021). Model-Based Testing in practice: an industrial case study using GraphWalker. In Proceedings of the 14th Innovations in Software Engineering Conference (ISEC 2021) (Art. ID. 5, 11 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1145/3452383.3452388
Database Logos

Keywords