SYCO: a systematic testing tool for concurrent objects

Abstract

We present the concepts, usage and prototypical implementation of SYCO: a SYstematic testing tool for Concurrent Objects. The system receives as input a program, a selection of method to be tested, and a set of initial values for its parameters. SYCO offers a visual web interface to carry out the testing process and visualize the results of the different executions as well as the sequences of tasks scheduled as a sequence diagram. Its kernel includes state-of-the-art partial-order reduction techniques to avoid redundant computations during testing. Besides, SYCO incorporates an option to effectively catch deadlock errors. In particular, it uses advanced techniques which guide the execution towards potential deadlock paths and discard paths that are guaranteed to be deadlock free.