Pforzheim University Relies on Automated Software Testing Solution for Computer Engineering Program

Armored for the Future With Parasoft C/C++test

Since a meeting in person at the Embedded World trade fair in 2014, HS Pforzheim has been using the Parasoft C/C++test software testing tool. The initial server installation with licenses for 20 students was completely unproblematic, thanks to Parasoft’s dedicated support.

The features of the test tool include:

• Report generation
• Pre-configured tests
• Test generation
• Integration in toolchain (Eclipse)

With this software development testing solution, students can comprehensively test their C and C++ applications with leading industry standards, including MISRA, AUTOSAR, and CERT.

Many vertical industries such as automotive, aerospace, railway, medical, industrial, among others, use the programming rules and guidelines defined by these standards to help produce robust code that must function safely, securely, and reliably.

What makes it special is this: students work with real tools that are in industry use, thereby learning software development best practices. Even if many opportunities cannot be exploited due to the limited time available, this close link between theory and practice creates positive synergy effects for later career entry—one of the advantages of Pforzheim University.

The Practical Procedure

Students receive the installation for a virtual machine that integrates the Parasoft tools. The first stage of learning introduces students to the C/C++test tool. They can carry out static tests and make code improvements. Regression testing follows to ensure no static code violations remain.

Next, students design, implement, and carry out simple unit tests including equivalence class partitioning and boundary value testing. Then, they examine various code implementation aspects. One aspect is code complexity and another is effort estimation.

Later, students revise testing from the point of view of code testability, among other things, and tests are adapted accordingly.

Evaluation

Currently, Parasoft C/C++test is the industry’s most comprehensive software development testing solution for testing safety-critical code in C/C++ language. By requiring organizations to use a single tool for development testing best practices, security and safety compliance, and conformance documentation and reporting, it greatly reduces the manual workload for compliance with programming standards. Using AI and machine learning, it reduces the burden on teams and ensures that serious design issues are fixed first, when it’s most cost-effective to do so.

Students can use Parasoft C/C++test to get an automated personalized critique of their code when and as often as they require. If their code fails a test, they can access and view a detailed explanation of why it failed and how to fix it—all with one click.

Also important to the training is that the errors are not automatically fixed so students are forced to understand the reasons for each programming error. This is how they learn error-free coding for the real working world.

Mission Accomplished

With the Software Engineering study program, Pforzheim University lays the foundation for graduates to make an effective and immediate contribution to their future workplace as qualified software developers.

To this end, it educates students about the correctness of code and familiarizes them with professional tools like Parasoft C/C++test, which is widely used in industry.