Delta Debugging

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Delta Debugging automates the scientific method of debugging. The Delta Debugging algorithm isolates failure causes automatically - by systematically narrowing down failure-inducing circumstances until a minimal set remains. Delta Debugging has been applied to isolate failure-inducing program input (e.g. an HTML page that makes a Web browser fail), failure-inducing user interaction (e.g. the keystrokes that make a program crash), or failure-inducing changes to the program code (e.g. after a failing regression test).

[edit] Software

• Igor - command line tool
• Eclipse Plug-Ins
  • DDinput - Failure-Inducing Input
  • DDchange - Failure-Inducing Changes
  • DDstate - Failure-Inducing States

[edit] References

• Andreas Zeller: Why Programs Fail: A Guide to Systematic Debugging, Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN 1-55860-866-4

[edit] External links

• Delta Debugging project - extensive collection of links to delta debugging tools and methods
• Delta - a computer program to minimize "interesting" files subject to a test of their interestingness
• Why Programs Fail - the "Why Programs Fail" book website