TAP 2018

Date: Jun 27, 2018 6:00 am – Jun 29, 2018 5:00 pm

12th International Conference on Tests & Proofs (TAP 2018)

Part of the STAF Event 2018(parallel ECMFA, ICGT, ICMT, SEFM, TAP, TTC)

Purpose and scope

The TAP conference promotes research in verification and formal methods that targets the interplay of proofs and testing: the advancement of techniques of each kind and their combination, with the ultimate goal of improving software and system dependability.

Research in verification has recently seen a steady convergence of heterogeneous techniques and a synergy between the traditionally distinct areas of testing (and dynamic analysis) and of proving (and static analysis). Formal techniques for counter-example generation based on, for example, symbolic execution, SAT/SMT-solving or model checking, furnish evidence for the potential of a combination of test and proof. The combination of predicate abstraction with testing-like techniques based on exhaustive enumeration opens the perspective for novel techniques of proving correctness. On the practical side, testing offers cost-effective debugging techniques of specifications or crucial parts of program proofs (such as invariants). Last but not least, testing is indispensable when it comes to the validation of the underlying assumptions of complex system models involving hardware and/or system environments. Over the years, there is growing acceptance in research communities that testing and proving are complementary rather than mutually exclusive techniques.

The TAP conference aims to promote research in the intersection of testing and proving by bringing together researchers and practitioners from both areas of verification.

Topics of Interest

TAP's scope encompasses many aspects of verification technology, including foundational work, tool development, and empirical research. Its topics of interest center around the connection between proofs (and other static techniques) and testing (and other dynamic techniques). Papers are solicited on, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Verification and analysis techniques combining proofs and tests
  • Program proving with the aid of testing techniques
  • Deductive techniques supporting the automated generation of test vectors and oracles  (theorem proving,  model checking, symbolic execution, SAT/SMT solving, constraint logic programming, etc.)
  • Deductive techniques supporting novel definitions of coverage criteria,
  • Program analysis techniques combining static and dynamic analysis
  • Specification inference by deductive and dynamic methods
  • Testing and runtime analysis of formal specifications
  • Search-based technics for proving and testing
  • Verification of verification tools and environments
  • Applications of test and proof techniques in new domains, such as security, configuration management, learning
  • Combined approaches of test and proof in the context of formal certifications (Common Criteria, CENELEC, …)
  • Case studies, tool and framework descriptions, and experience reports about combining tests and proofs

Program Chairs

  • Catherine Dubois, dubois@ensiie.fr ENSIIE-Samovar
  • Burkhart Wolff, Burkhart.Wolff@lri.fr Univ Paris-Sud

Program Committee

  • Bernhard K. Aichernig, TU Graz
  • Bernhard Beckert, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • Jasmin Christian Blanchette, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Achim D. Brucker, The University of Sheffield
  • Carlo A. Furia, Chalmers University of Technology
  • Angelo Gargantini, University of Bergamo
  • Alain Giorgetti, FEMTO-ST, University Franche-Comté
  • Martin Gogolla, University of Bremen
  • Arnaud Gotlieb, SIMULA Research Laboratory, Norway
  • Reiner Hähnle, TU Darmstadt
  • Klaus Havelund, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Rob Hierons, Brunel University London
  • Thierry Jéron, INRIA Rennes
  • Moa Johansson, Chalmers University of Technology
  • Chantal Keller, LRI, Université Paris-Sud
  • Nikolai Kosmatov, CEA List, France
  • Laura Kovacs, TU Wien
  • Tanja Mayerhofer, Vienna University of Technology
  • Karl Meinke, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
  • Corina Pasareanu, CMU/NASA Ames Research Center
  • Alexandre Petrenko, Computer Research Institute of Montreal
  • Martina Seidl, Johannes Kepler University Linz
  • Helene Waeselynck, LAAS-CNRS, Toulouse
  • Foundations
  • Validation and Verification
  • Testing
  • Conference
  • 2018
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