CALL-FOR-PAPERS

AST 2012
7th IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Automation of Software Test
http://ast2012.org
At ICSE 2012 (http://www.ifi.uzh.ch/icse2012/)
Zurich, Switzerland, 2-3 June 2012

IMPORTANT DATES:

Submission deadline:
		February 17, 2012
Notification of acceptance:
		March 19, 2012
Camera-Ready version:
		March 29, 2012
Workshop dates:
		June 2 - 3 2012

In software development practice, testing accounts for as much as 50%
of the total development effort. It is therefore imperative to reduce
the cost and improve the effectiveness of software testing by
automating the testing process. In the past decades, a great amount of
research effort has been spent on automatic test case generation,
automatic test oracles, etc. Test automation is also becoming an
important part of software testing practice.

The workshop is the 7th edition of the successful AST workshops held
at ICSE 2006-2011. It will provide researchers and practitioners with
a forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, understanding of the
problems, visions for the future, and promising solutions to the
problems. The workshop will also provide a platform for researchers
and developers of testing tools to work together to identify the
problems in the theory and practice of software test automation and to
set an agenda and lay the foundation for future development.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

The workshop focuses on bridging the gap between the theory and
practice of software test automation. The topics of interest include,
but are not limited to, the following:

1) Methodology: Software test automation in the context of various
software development methodologies, such as model-driven,
component-based, agile, test-driven, product lines, service-oriented,
agent-oriented, and aspect-oriented methodologies, and in evolutionary
development.

2) Technology: Automation of test techniques and methods used in
test-related activities, support for software testing methods, and
applications to specific types of software in different application
domains.

3) Software testing tools and environments: Issues in the development,
operation, maintenance and evolution of software testing tools and
environments.

4) Experiments, empirical studies and experience reports and vision of
the future of software test automation. The AST 2012 workshop focuses
on a special topic on the Automation of Security Testing. Submissions
on this topic are especially encouraged, but papers on other topics
are also welcome.

CHARETTE DISCUSSIONS

The workshop continues the successful charette discussions of previous
years. This year, the charette discussion sessions will focus on the
topic of automation of security testing.

INDUSTRIAL CASE STUDIES

There will also be an Industrial Case Studies session at the workshop,
with presentations reporting the real state of the practice in
automation of software testing. Test practitioners are especially
encouraged to contribute their experiences and insights on test
automation. Topics for this session include, but are not limited to,
the following: new tools, new best practices, process innovations
related to test automation, gaps in existing vendor toolsets, ideas
and visions for near-term research work.

SUBMISSIONS

Two types of submissions are invited: regular papers and industrial
case study papers. The former presents research in the area of
software test automation, while the latter presents practical
applications of test automation. Both types of papers are limited to 7
pages in IEEE Conference Proceedings Format. Please indicate clearly
to which category your submission belongs.

All papers submitted to the workshop must be unpublished original work
and must not be simultaneously under review or submitted
elsewhere. All submissions must be in English and in either PDF or
postscript format through online upload to the workshop submission
website at the following URL:

http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=AST2012

All submissions will be reviewed by at least three PC members. Regular
papers will be judged on the basis of their clarity, relevance,
originality, and contribution. Case study papers will be judged on the
basis of their clarity, relevance, and interest to the workshop
participants.

PUBLICATION OF PAPERS

The accepted workshop papers including both regular and case study
papers will be published in the AST 2012 Proceedings and included in
the IEEE Digital Libraries. Workshop attendees will receive a memory
stick with both ICSE 2012 and AST 2012 proceedings on it. The
presentations slides will be published on the AST 2012
website. Authors of accepted papers are required to register for the
workshop and present the paper at the workshop in order for the paper
to be included in the proceedings and Digital Libraries.

A journal special issue to publish revised and extended versions of
selected best papers is pending.