The Home Page of Rob Hierons

The Home Page of Rob Hierons

Professor of Computing, School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK, UB8 3PH, rob.hierons@brunel.ac.uk, phone +44 (0) 1895 266002

Brief Details

I received a BA in Mathematics (Trinity College, Cambridge), and a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Brunel University). I then joined the Department of Mathematical and Computing Sciences at Goldsmiths College, University of London, as a lecturer in computer science before returning to Brunel University. Together with Mark Harman I founded the ATeSST group at Brunel. I am a member of the Brunel Software Engineering Group and am the Director of one of Brunel's University Research Centres: the Centre for Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM). I have chaired or co-chaired several events including the 16th IFIP TC 6 / WG 6.1 International Conference on Testing of Communicating Systems (TestCom 2004) and the first IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation, ICST 2008 (ICST). (ICST 2013 will be held in Luxembourg.) I was also programme co-chair of the 11th International Conference On Quality Software (QSIC 2011) and will be programme co-chair of SEFM 2013. I currently chair the steering committee of the IFIP TC 6 / WG 6.1 International Conference on Testing Software and Systems (ICTSS). (ICTSS 2013 will be in Istanbul). I am joint Editor of The Journal of Software Testing, Verification and Reliability.

I am a Chartered Fellow of the BCS and a Senior Member of the IEEE. I am a member of the EPSRC FORTEST, SEMINAL, and ASTReNeT networks. I am also involved in the Marie Curie Research Training Network TAROT (Training And Research On Testing) and organised the 2008 TAROT summerschool (22-27 June 2008). I am involved in a number of projects including EPSRC funded projects on Semantic Mutation Testing and on Testing Probabilistic and Stochastic Systems.

My current research interests include:

specification based testing and model based testing including testing (possibly non-deterministic or concurrent) state-based systems;
distributed testing;
asynchronous testing;
testing from a state-based specification (such as a finite state machine);
mutation testing;
program schemas and slicing .

using metaheuristic algorithms in software engineering;
adaptive testing and the ordering of adaptive test cases;
testing from a Z specification;
testability transformation;
comparing test techniques.

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in studying for a Ph.D in one of these topics (we sometimes have bursaries but only for students from the European Union).

Edited Books and Volumes

R. M. Hierons, J. P. Bowen, and M. Harman: Formal Methods and Testing: An Outcome of the FORTEST Network, Revised Selected Papers, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 4949, Springer, 2008.
S. Counsell, R. M. Hierons and C. Robinson-Mallett: Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Advances in Model Based Testing (AMOST 2007), 2007. Published in the ACM Digital Library.
H. Muccini and R. M. Hierons: Proceedings of the Workshop on The Role of Software Architecture for Testing and Analysis (ROSATEA 2006), 2006. Published in the ACM Digital Library.
R. Groz and R. M. Hierons: Proceedings of the16th IFIP International Conference on Testing of Communicating Systems, (TestCom 2004), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 2978, Springer, 2004.

Journal Publications

H. Dan and R. M. Hierons: The Oracle Problem with Testing from MSCs, The Computer Journal (to appear).
M. S. AbouTrab, M. Brockway, S. Counsell, and R. M. Hierons: Testing Real-time Embedded Systems using Timed Automata Based Approaches, Journal of Systems and Software (to appear).
R. M. Hierons: Verifying and Comparing Finite State Machines for Systems that have Distributed Interfaces, IEEE Transactions on Computers (to appear).
K. Androutsopoulos, D. Clark, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, Z. Li, L. Tratt: Slicing of Extended Finite State Machines, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (to appear).
R. M. Hierons: Implementation relations for testing through asynchronous channels, The Computer Journal, (to appear).
J. A. Clark, H. Dan, and R. M. Hierons: Semantic Mutation Testing, Science of Computer Programming, 78, pp. 345-363, 2013.
A. Núñez, M. G. Merayo, M. Núñez, and R. M. Hierons: A case study on the use of genetic algorithms to generate test cases for temporal systems, Soft Computing, 17 2, pp. 301-315, 2013.
H. Dan, R. M. Hierons, and S. Counsell: A framework for pathologies of message sequence charts, Information and Software Technology, 54 11, pp. 1283-1295, 2012.
H. Dan and R. M. Hierons: Controllability Problems in MSC Tests, The Computer Journal, 55 11, pp. 1270-1287, 2012.
R. M. Hierons: The Complexity of Asynchronous Model Based Testing, Theoretical Computer Science, 45 1, pp. 70-82, 2012.
R. M. Hierons and M. Núñez: Using schedulers to test probabilistic distributed systems, Formal Aspects of Computing, 24 4, pp. 679-699, 2012.
R. M. Hierons: Oracles for Distributed Testing, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 38 3, pp. 629-641, 2012.
S. Danicic, R. M. Hierons, and M. Laurence: Complexity of Data Dependence problems for Program Schemas with Concurrency, ACM Transactions on Computational Logic, 13 2, 2012.
R.M. Hierons, M. G. Merayo and M. Núñez: Implementation relations and test generation for systems with distributed interfaces, Distributed Computing, 25 1, pp. 35-62, 2012.
R. M. Hierons: Overcoming Controllability Problems in Distributed Testing from an Input Output Transition System, Distributed Computing, 25 1, pp. 63-81, 2012.
D. Clark and R. M. Hierons, Squeeziness: An Information Theoretic Measure for Avoiding Fault Masking, Information Processing Letters, 112, pp. 335-340, 2012.
I. Khan, W.-P. Brinkman, and R. M. Hierons: Do Moods Affect Programmers' Debug Performance, Cognition, Technology and Work, 13 4, pp. 245-258, 2011.
R. M. Hierons: Controllable testing from Nondeterministic Finite State Machines with Multiple Ports, IEEE Transactions on Computers, 60 12, pp. 1818-1822, 2011.
S. Danicic, R. M. Hierons, and M. Laurence: On the computational complexity of dynamic slicing problems for program schemas, Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, 21, pp. 1339-1362, 2011.
R. M. Hierons, M. G. Merayo, and M. Núñez: Scenarios-based testing of systems with distributed ports, Software Practice and Experience, 41 10, pp. 999-1026, 2011.
A. Kalaji, R. M. Hierons and S. Swift: An Integrated Search-Based Approach for Automatic Testing from Extended Finite State Machine (EFSM) Models, Information and Software Technology, 53 12, pp. 1297-1318, 2011.
S. Danicic, R. M. Hierons, and M. Laurence: Characterising minimal semantics-preserving slices of predicate-linear, free liberal program schemas, Journal of Logic and Algebraic Programming, 80 8, pp. 481-496, 2011.
S. Segura, R. M. Hierons, D. Benavides, and A. Ruiz-Cortesa: Mutation Testing on an Object-Oriented Framework: An Experience Report, Information and Software Technology, 53 10, pp. 1124-1136, 2011.
Mercedes G. Merayo, Manuel Núñez, and Robert M. Hierons: Testing timed systems modeled by Stream X-Machines, Software and Systems Modeling, 10 2, pp. 201-217, 2011.
S. Danicic, R. M. Hierons, and M. Laurence: Decidability of Strong Equivalence for Slices of Linear, Free, near-Liberal Program Schemas, Journal of Logic and Algebraic Programming 80 2, pp. 92-112, 2011.
S. Segura, R. M. Hierons, D. Benavides, and A. Ruiz-Cortesa, Automated Metamorphic Testing on the Analyses of Feature Models, Information and Software Technology, 53 3, pp. 245-258, 2011.
R. M. Hierons: Reaching and Distinguishing States of Distributed Systems, SIAM Journal of Computing, 39 8, pp. 3480-3500, 2010.
R. M. Hierons: Checking Experiments for Stream X-machines, Theoretical Computer Science, 411, pp. 3372-3385, 2010.
R. M. Hierons and H. Ural: Generating a Checking Sequence with a minimum number of reset transitions, Automated Software Engineering, 17 3, pp. 217-250, 2010.
R. W. Barraclough, D. Binkley, S., Danicic, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, A. Kiss, M. Laurence, L. Ouarbya: A Trajectory-based Strict Semantics for Program Slicing, Theoretical Computer Science, 411 11-13, pp. 1372-1386, 2010.
R. M. Hierons: Canonical Finite State Machines for Distributed Systems, Theoretical Computer Science, 411 2, pp. 566-580, 2010.
K. Derderian, R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and Q. Guo: Estimating the Feasibility of Transition Paths in Extended Finite State Machines, Automated Software Engineering, 17 1, pp. 33-56, 2010.
S. T. Parkinson, R. M. Hierons, M. Lycett, and M. Norman: Practitioner-Based Measurement: A Collaborative Software Measurement Approach, Communications of the ACM, 53 5, pp. 142-147, 2010.
R. M. Hierons: Verdict Functions in Testing with a Fault Domain or Test Hypotheses, ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 18 4, 2009.
R. M. Hierons: Using status messages in the distributed test architecture, Information and Software Technology, 51 7, pp. 1123-1130, 2009.
R. M. Hierons and H. Ural: Overcoming controllability problems with fewest channels between testers, Computer Networks 53, pp. 680-690, 2009.
R. M. Hierons, K. Bogdanov, J. P. Bowen, R. Cleaveland, J. Derrick, J. Dick, M. Gheorghe, M. Harman, K. Kapoor, P. Krause, G. Luettgen, A. J. H. Simons, S. Vilkomir, M. R. Woodward, and H. Zedan: Using Formal Methods to Support Testing, ACM Computing Surveys, 41 2, pp. 9:1-9:76, 2009.
R. M. Hierons and M. G. Merayo: Mutation testing from probabilistic and stochastic finite state machines, Journal of Systems and Software, 82 11, pp. 1804-1818, 2009.
R. M. Hierons, M. G. Merayo, and M. Núñez: Testing from a Stochastic Timed System with a Fault Model, Journal of Logic and Algebraic Programming , 78 2, pp. 98-115, 2009.
R. M. Hierons and F. Ipate: Testing a deterministic implementation against a non-controllable non-deterministic stream X-machine, Formal Aspects of Computing, 20 6, pp. 597-617, 2008.
R. M. Hierons and H. Ural: Checking Sequences for Distributed Test Architectures , Distributed Computing 21, pp. 223-238, 2008.

R. M. Hierons and H. Ural: The effect of the distributed test architecture on the power of testing, The Computer Journal, 51 4, pp. 497-510, 2008.
C. Robinson-Mallett, R. M. Hierons, J. Poore, and P. Liggesmeyer: Software Integration Testing based on Communication Coverage Criteria and Partial Model Generation, Software Quality Journal, 16 2, pp. 185-211, 2008.
S. Danicic, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, J. Howroyd, and M. R. Laurence: Equivalence of Linear, Free, Liberal, Structured Program Schemas is Decidable in Polynomial time, Theoretical Computer Science, 373, pp. 1-18, 2007.
Q. Guo, R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and K. Derderian: Heuristics for fault diagnosing when testing from finite state machines, The Journal of Software Testing, Verification and Reliability, 17 1, pp. 41-57, 2007.
Z. Li, M. Harman, and R. M. Hierons: Search Algorithms for Regression Test Case Prioritization, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 33 4 , pp. 225-237, 2007.
R.M. Hierons and H. Ural: Reducing the cost of applying adaptive test cases, Computer Networks, 51 1, pp. 224-238, 2007.
R. M. Hierons and H. Ural: Optimizing the Length of Checking Sequences, IEEE Transactions on Computers, 55 5, pp. 618-629, 2006.
R. M. Hierons: Avoiding Coincidental Correctness in Boundary Value Analysis, ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 15 3, pp. 227-241, 2006.
J. Chen, R. M. Hierons, and H. Ural: Overcoming observability problems in distributed test architectures, Information Processing Letters, 98, pp. 177-182, 2006.
Q. Guo, R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and K. Derderian: Improved Test Quality Using Robust Unique Input/Output Circuit Sequences (UIOCs), Information and Software Technology, 48 8, pp. 696-707, 2006.
K. Derderian, R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and Q. Guo: Automated Unique Input Output sequence generation for conformance testing, The Computer Journal, 49 3, pp. 331-344, 2006.
R. M. Hierons: Separating Sequence Overlap for Automated Test Sequence Generation, Automated Software Engineering, 13 2, pp. 283-302, 2006.
R. M. Hierons: Applying adaptive test cases to nondeterministic implementations, Information Processing Letters, 98 2, pp. 56-60, 2006.
S. Danicic, M. Daoudi, C. Fox, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, J. Howroyd, L. Ourabya, and M. Ward: ConSUS: a light-weight program conditioner, Journal of Systems and Software, 77 3, pp. 241-262, 2005.
N. E. Gold, M. Harman, D. Binkley, and R. M. Hierons: Unifying program slicing and concept assignment for source code extraction, Software Practice and Experience, 35 10, pp. 997-1006, 2005.
S. Danicic, C. J. Fox, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, J. Howroyd, and M. R. Laurence: Static Program Slicing Algorithms are Minimal for Free Liberal Program Schemas, The Computer Journal, 48 6, pp. 737-748, 2005.
Q. Guo, R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and K. Derderian: Constructing Multiple Unique Input/Output Sequences Using Metaheuristic Optimisation Techniques, IEE Proceedings – Software, 152 3, pp.127-140, 2005.
R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and C. J. Fox: Branch-coverage testability transformation for unstructured programs, The Computer Journal, 48 4, pp. 421-436, 2005.
R. M. Hierons: Testing from a Non-Deterministic Finite State Machine Using Adaptive State Counting, IEEE Transactions on Computers, 53 10, pp. 1330-1342, 2004.
R.M. Hierons and M. Harman: Testing conformance of a deterministic implementation to a non-deterministic stream X-machine, Theoretical Computer Science, 323 1-3, pp. 191-233, 2004.
R. M. Hierons: Using a minimal number of resets when testing from a finite state machine, Information Processing Letters, 90 6, pp. 287-292, 2004.
R. M. Hierons, T.-H. Kim, and H. Ural: On The Testability of SDL Specifications, Computer Networks, 44 5, pp. 681-700, 2004.
M. Harman, L. Hu, R. M. Hierons, J. Wegener, H. Sthamer, A. Baresel, and M. Roper: Testability Transformation, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 30 1, pp. 3-16, 2004.
C. Fox, S. Danicic, M. Harman and R. M. Hierons: ConSIT: A fully automated conditioned program slicer, Software Practice and Experience, 34 1, pp. 15-46, 2004.
J. Clark, J. J. Dolado, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, B. Jones, M. Lumkin, B. Mitchell, S. Mancoridis, K. Rees, M. Roper and M. Shepperd: Reformulating Software Engineering as a Search Problem, IEE Proceedings – Software, 150 3, pp. 161-175, 2003.
R. M. Hierons and H. Ural: UIO Sequence Based Checking Sequences for Distributed Test Architectures, Information and Software Technology, 45 12, pp. 793-803, 2003.
R. M. Hierons: Generating Candidates when Testing a Deterministic Implementation against a Non-deterministic Finite State Machine, The Computer Journal, 46 3, pp.307-318, 2003.
R.M. Hierons: Comparing test sets and criteria in the presence of test hypotheses and fault domains, ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 11 4, pp. 427-448, 2002.
M. Laurence, S. Danicic, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, and J. D. Howroyd: Equivalence of Conservative, Free, Linear Schemas is Decidable, Theoretical Computer Science, 290 1, pp. 831-862, 2002.
R. M. Hierons and H. Ural: Reduced Length Checking Sequences , IEEE Transactions on Computers, 51 9, pp. 1111-1117, 2002. Erratum in 58 2, Feb 2009.
R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, C. J. Fox, M. Daoudi, and L. Ouarbya: Conditioned slicing supports partition testing , The Journal of Software Testing, Verification and Reliability , 12 1, pp. 23-28, 2002.
M. Harman and R. M. Hierons: An overview of Program Slicing, Software Focus, 2 3, pp. 85-92, 2001.
R. M. Hierons: Testing a distributed system: generating minimal synchronised test sequences that detect output-shifting faults , Information and Software Technology , 43 9, pp. 551-560, 2001.
R. M. Hierons: Checking States and Transitions of a set of Communicating Finite State Machines , Microprocessors and Microsystems, Special Issue on Testing and testing techniques for real-time embedded software systems, 24 9, pp. 443-452, 2001.
R. M. Hierons, S. Sadeghipour, and H. Singh: Testing a System specified using Statecharts and Z, Information and Software Technology, 43 2, pp. 137-149, 2001.
R. M. Hierons and M. Harman: Testing conformance to a quasi-non-deterministic stream X-machine, Formal Aspects of Computing, 12 6, pp. 423-442, 2000.
R.M. Hierons, M. Harman and S. Danicic: Using Program Slicing to Assist in the Detection of Equivalent Mutants, The Journal of Software Testing, Verification, and Reliability, 9 4, pp. 233-262, 1999.
R.M. Hierons: Minimizing the cost of Fault Location when testing from a Finite State Machine, Computer Communications, 22 2, pp. 120-127, 1999.
R.M. Hierons: Adaptive Testing of a Deterministic Implementation Against a Nondeterministic Finite State Machine, The Computer Journal, 41 5, pp. 349-355, 1998.
M.P. Wiper, D. Ríos Insua and R.M. Hierons: Bayesian Inference and Optimal Release Times for Two Software Failure Models, Revista De La Real Academia de Ciencias: Exactas, Fisiscas Y Naturales, 92 4, pp. 323-328, 1998.
H. Edwards, R.M. Hierons, and B. Jackson: The Zero-free Intervals for Characteristic Polynomials of Matroids, The Journal of Combinatorics, Probability, and Computing, 7 2, pp. 153-165, 1998.
R.M. Hierons: Testing from semi-independent communicating finite state machines with a slow environment, IEE Proceedings on Software Engineering, 144 5-6, pp. 291-295, 1997.
R.M. Hierons: Testing From a Finite State Machine: Extending Invertibility to Sequences, The Computer Journal, 40 4, pp. 220-230, 1997.
R.M. Hierons and M.P. Wiper: Estimation of Failure Rate using Random and Partition Testing, The Journal of Software Testing, Verification, and Reliability, 7 3, pp. 153-164, 1997.
R.M. Hierons: Testing from a Z specification, The Journal of Software Testing, Verification, and Reliability, 7 1, pp. 19-33, 1997.
R.M. Hierons: Extending Test Sequence Overlap by Invertibility, The Computer Journal, 39 4, pp. 325-330, 1996.

Refereed Conferences and Workshops

R.M. Hierons, M. G. Merayo and M. Núñez: Passive Testing with Asynchronous Communications, 2013 IFIP Joint International Conference on Formal Techniques for Distributed Systems (33rd FORTE / 15th FMOODS), LNCS.
Ana Cavalcanti and Robert M. Hierons: Testing with inputs and outputs in CSP, 16th International Conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering (FASE 2013), LNCS.
Lan Lin, Jeese H. Poore, Robert Eschbach, Robert M. Hierons, and Christopher Robinson-Mallett: Augmenting Sequence Enumeration with String-Rewriting for Requirements Analysis and Behavioral Specification, 16th International Conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering (FASE 2013), LNCS.
R.M. Hierons, M. G. Merayo and M. Núñez, Using Time to Add Order to Distributed Testing, 18th International Symposium on Formal Methods (FM 2012), LNCS.
M. S. AbouTrab, S. Counsell, and R. M. Hierons: Specification Mutation Analysis for Validating Timed Testing Approaches Based on Timed Automata, 36th IEEE Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC 2012).
H. Dan and R. M. Hierons: Semantic Mutation Analysis of Floating-point Comparison, 5th IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST 2012), 2012.
H. Dan and R. M. Hierons: SMT-C: A Semantic Mutation Testing Tool for C, 7th IEEE International Workshop on Mutation Analysis (Mutation 2012), 2012.
Ana Cavalcanti, Marie-Claude Gaudel, and Robert M. Hierons: Conformance Relations for Distributed Testing based on CSP, The 23th IFIP International Conference on Testing Software and Systems (ICTSS'11), LNCS
C. Molinero, M. Núñez, and R. M. Hierons: Experimental Comparison of Different Techniques to Generate Adaptive Sequences, International Working Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (IWANN 2011), LNCS.
K. Derderian, M. Merayo, R. M. Hierons, and M. Núñez: A case study on the use of Genetic Algorithms to generate test cases for temporal systems, International Working Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (IWANN 2011), LNCS.
C. Molinero, M. Núñez , and R. M. Hierons: Creating adaptive sequences with genetic algorithms to reach a certain state in a non-deterministic FSM, IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life (IEEE ALIFE 2011).
H. Dan and R. M. Hierons, Conformance Testing from Message Sequence Charts, 4th IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST 2011), 2011.
M. S. AbouTrab, S. Counsell, and R. M. Hierons: GeTeX: A Tool for Testing Real-Time Embedded Systems Using CAN Applications, 18th IEEE International Conference and Workshops on Engineering of Computer-Based Systems (ECBS 2011).
Haitao Dan, R. M. Hierons, and S. Counsell: Non-local Choice and Implied Scenarios, IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2010), 2010.
R. M. Hierons and M. Núñez: Scenarios-based Testing of Systems with distributed Ports, The 10th International Conference on Quality Software (QSIC 2010), 2010.
R. M. Hierons and M. Núñez: Testing probabilistic distributed systems, 30th IFIP Formal Techniques for Networked and Distributed Systems (FORTE 2010), LNCS, 2010.
A.S. Kalaji, R. M. Hierons, and S. Swift: Generating Feasible Transition Paths for Testing from an Extended Finite State Machine (EFSM) with the Counter Problem, International Workshop on Search-Based Software Testing (SBST 2010).
J. Clark, H. Dan, and R. M. Hierons: Semantic Mutation Testing, Mutation 2010.
S. Counsell, R. M. Hierons, H. Hamza, S. Black, and M. Durrand: Is a Strategy for Code Smell Assessment Long Overdue?, Workshop on Engineering Trends in Software Metrics (WETSOM 2010).
S. Segura, R. M. Hierons, D. Benavides and A. Ruiz-Cortes: Automated Test Data Generation on the Analyses of Feature Models: A Metamorphic Testing Approach, 3rd IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST 2010), 2010.
S. Counsell, A. Mubarak, and R. M Hierons: An Evolutionary Study of Fan-in and Fan-out Metrics in OSS, Fourth International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science (RCIS 2010), 2010.
R. M. Hierons, G.-V. Jourdan, H. Ural and H. Yenigun: Checking Sequence Construction Using Adaptive and Preset Distinguishing Sequences, 7th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2009), 2009.
A. Almohammad, G. Ghinea, R. M. Hierons: JPEG Steganography: A Performance Evaluation of Quantization Tables, The IEEE 23rd International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2009), pp. 471-478, 2009.
R. M. Hierons and M. Núñez: Simulation relations for systems with distributed interfaces, 7th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2009), 2009.
A.S. Kalaji, R. M. Hierons, and S. Swift: A Search-Based Approach for Automatic Test Generation from Extended Finite State Machine (EFSM), Testing: Academia & Industry Conference - Practice And Research Techniques (TAIC-PART 2009).
K. Derderian, M. G. Merayo, R. M. Hierons, and M. Núñez: Aiding test case generation in temporally constrained state based systems using genetic algorithms, 10th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (IWANN2009) (Biological Inspired Systems. Computational and Ambient Intelligence), 2009.
A.S. Kalaji, R. M. Hierons, and S. Swift: A Testability Transformation Approach for State-Based Programs, 1st International Symposium on Search-Based Software Engineering (SSBSE 2009), 2009.
A. Mubarak, S. Counsell, and R.M. Hierons: Does an 80:20 rule apply to Java coupling?, 4th Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE 2009), April 20-21, 2009.
A.S. Kalaji, R. M. Hierons, and S. Swift: Generating Feasible Transition Paths for Testing from an Extended Finite State Machine (EFSM), 2nd IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST 2009), 2009.
A. Mubarak, S. Counsell, and R.M. Hierons: Empirical Observations on Coupling, Code Warnings and Versions in Java Open-Source, 3rd IFIP TC2 Central and East European Conference on Software Engineering Techniques (CEE-SET 2008), Brno, Czech Republic, 2008.
R. M. Hierons: Testing in the distributed test architecture: An extended abstract, The Eighth International Conference on Quality Software (QSIC 2008), pp. 11-12
I. Khan, W.-P. Brinkman, and R. M. Hierons: Towards a Computer Interaction-Based Mood Measure Instrument, 20th Annual Psychology of Programming Workshop (PPIG 20008), pp. 155-169, 2008.
M. G. Merayo, R. M. Hierons and M. Núñez: Extending Stream X-Machines to specify and test systems with timeouts, 6th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2008), 2008.
A. AlMohammad, R. M. Hierons and G. Ghinea: High capacity steganographic method based upon JPEG, Third IEEE International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES 08), pp. 544-549.
R. M. Hierons, M. G. Merayo, and M. Núñez: Controllable test cases for the distributed test architecture, 6th International Symposium on Automated Technology for Verification and Analysis (ATVA 08), LNCS volume 5311, pp. 201-215, 2008.
I. Khan, W.-P. Brinkman, N. Fine, R. M. Hierons: Measuring Personality from Keyboard and Mouse, 15th European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics (ECCE 2008), pp. 184-191, 2008.
S. T. Parkinson, S. Counsell, M. Norman, R. M. Hierons and M. Lycett: The Precursor to an Industrial Software Metrics Program, 30th International Conference on Information Technology Interfaces, Cavtat, Croatia, 2008.
R. M. Hierons, M. G. Merayo, and M. Núñez: Implementation relations for the distributed test architecture, 20th IFIP International Conference on Testing of Communicating Systems (TestCom 2008), LNCS volume 5047, pp. 200-215, 2008.
R. M. Hierons, G.-V. Jourdan, H. Ural and H. Yenigun: Using Adaptive Distinguishing Sequences in Checking Sequence Construction, 23rd ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC 2008), pp. 682-687, 2008.
A. Mubarak, S. Counsell, R.M. Hierons and Y. Hassoun: Package Composition, Evolvability and Refactoring, Third International ERCIM Symposium on Software Evolution (EVOL 2007), 2007.
C. Robinson-Mallett, R. M. Hierons, J. Poore, and T. Bauer: Using Partial Models to support the Testing of Distributed Systems, IASTED International Conference on Software Engineering and Applications (SEA 2007), 2007.
R. M. Hierons and M. G. Merayo: Mutation Testing from Probabilistic Finite State Machines, Third Workshop on Mutation Analysis (Mutation 2007), September 10-11, 2007.
S. Counsell and R. M. Hierons: Refactoring test suites versus test behaviour - a TTCN-3 perspective, Fourth International Workshop on Software Quality Assurance (SOQUA 2007), 2007.
Haitao Dan, R. M. Hierons, and S. Counsell: A Thread-based Semantics for Sequence Diagrams, IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2007), 2007.
I. A. Khan, W. P. Brinkman, and R. Hierons: Moods and Programmers Performance, 19th Annual Psychology of Programming Workshop (PPIG 20007), 2007.
Haitao Dan, R. M. Hierons, and S. Counsell: Thread–based Analysis of Sequence Diagrams, 27th IFIP International Conference on Formal Techniques for Networked and Distributed Systems (FORTE 2007), 2007.
S. Counsell, R. M. Hierons, and G. Loizou: A Meta-analysis Approach to Refactoring and XP, ACS/IEEE International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA 2007), pp. 67-75, 2007.
C. Robinson-Mallett, R. M. Hierons, and P. Liggesmeyer: Achieving Communication Coverage in Testing, Advances in Model-Base testing (IEEE ISSRE workshop), 2006.
S. Counsell, R. M. Hierons, R. Najjar, G. Loizou, and Y. Hassoun: The effectiveness of refactoring based on a compatibility testing taxonomy and a dependency graph, IEEE Testing: Academia & Industry Conference - Practice And Research Techniques (TAIC-PART 2006), pp. 181-190, 2006.
D. Fatiregun, M. Harman, and R. M. Hierons: Search-Based Amorphous Slicing, IEEE Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE 2005), pp.3-12, 2005.
J. Chen, R. M. Hierons, and H. Ural: Resolving observability problems in distributed test architectures, 25th IFIP International Conference on Formal Techniques for Networked and Distributed Systems (FORTE 2005), LNCS volume 3731, pp. 219-232, 2005.
K. Derderian, R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and Q. Guo: Generating feasible input sequences for extended finite state machines (EFSMs) using Genetic Algorithms, AAAI Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference 2005 (GECCO 2005), pp. 1081-1082, 2005.
J Chen, R. M. Hierons, H. Ural, and H. Yenigun: Eliminating Redundant Tests in a Checking Sequence, 17th IFIP International Conference on Testing Communicating Systems (TestCom 2005), Montreal, Canada, LNCS volume 3502, pp. 146-158, 2005.
L. Hu, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, and D. W. Binkley: Loop Squashing Transformations for Amorphous Slicing, IEEE Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'2004), pp.152-160, 2004.
D. Fatiregun, M. Harman and R. M. Hierons: Evolving Transformation Sequences using Genetic Algorithms, 4th IEEE Workshop on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation (SCAM 2004), September 14th-15th, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA, pp. 65-74, 2004.
M. Harman, D. Binkley, R. Singh and R. M. Hierons: Amorphous Procedure Extraction, 4th Workshop on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation (SCAM 2004), September 14th-15th, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA, pp. 85-94, 2004.
J. Chen, R. M. Hierons, and H. Ural: Conditions for Resolving Observability Problems in Distributed Testing, 24rd IFIP International Conference on Formal Techniques for Networked and Distributed Systems (FORTE 2004), Madrid, 27-30 September 2004, LNCS volume 2767, pages 229-242, 2004.
K. Adamopoulos, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons: Mutation Testing Using Genetic Algorithms: A Co-evolution Approach, AAAI Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference 2004 (GECCO 2004), pp. 1338-1349, 2004.
K. Derderian, R. M. Hierons, M. Harman, and Q. Guo: Input sequence generation for testing of communicating finite state machines (CFSMs) using genetic algorithms, AAAI Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference 2004 (GECCO 2004), pp. 1429-1430, 2004.
Q. Guo, R.M. Hierons, M. Harman and K. Derderian: Computing Unique Input/Output Sequences Using Genetic Algorithms, 3rd Formal Approaches to Testing (FATES’03), 6th October 2003), published in LNCS volume 2931, pp. 164-177, 2003.
R.M. Hierons and H. Ural: Concerning the ordering of adaptive test sequences, 23rd IFIP International Conference on Formal Techniques for Networked and Distributed Systems (FORTE 2003), Berlin, LNCS volume 2767, pp. 289-302, 2003 (won Best Paper Award).
K. Mahdavi, M. Harman and R.M. Hierons: A Multiple Hill Climbing Approach to Software Module Clustering, 19th IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance (ICSM 2003), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 315-324, 2003.
R.M. Hierons, M. Harman, and H. Singh: Automatically generating information from a Z specification to support the Classification Tree Method, 3rd International Conference of B and Z Users, June 4-6, 2003, LNCS volume 2651, pages 388-407, 2003.
A. De Lucia, M. Harman, R. Hierons, and J. Krinke: Unions of slices are not slices, IEEE Conference on Software Maintenance and Reengineering (CSMR 2003), Benevento, Italy, pp. 363-367, 2003.
M. Harman, L. Hu, R. M. Hierons, X. Zhang, M. Munro, J. J. Dolado, M. C. Otero, and J. Wegener: A Post-Placement Side-Effect Removal Algorithm, IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance (ICSM 2002) Montreal, Canada, pp. 2-11, 2002.
M. Harman, C. J. Fox, R. M. Hierons, L. Hu, S. Danicic and J. Wegener: VADA: A Transformation-based System for Variable Dependence Analysis, 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation, Montreal, Canada, pp. 55-64, 2002.
M. Harman, L. Hu, R. M. Hierons, C. Fox, S. Danicic, Andre Baresel, Harmen Sthamer, and Joachim Wegener: Evolutionary Testing Supported by Slicing and Transformation, IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance (ICSM 2002) Montreal, Canada, pp. 285, 2002.
R.M. Hierons, T.-H. Kim, and H. Ural: Expanding an Extended Finite State Machine to aid Testability, IEEE Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC 2002), pp. 334-339, 2002.
J. Bowen, K. Bogdanov, J. Clark, M. Harman, R. M. Hierons and P. Krause: FORTEST: Formal Methods and Testing (panel), 26th IEEE Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC 2002), Oxford, England, pp. 91-101, 2002.
M. Harman, L. Hu, R.M. Hierons, A. Baresel and H. Sthamer: Improving Evolutionary Testing by Flag Removal, AAAI Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference 2002 (GECCO 2002). New York, USA, pp. 1359-1366, 2002.
M. Harman, R.M. Hierons and M. Proctor: A New Representation and Crossover Operation for Search-Based Optimization of Software Modularization, AAAI Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference 2002 (GECCO 2002) . New York, USA, pp. 1351-1358, 2002.
M. Harman, N. Gold, R. M. Hierons, and D. Binkley: Code Extraction Algorithms which Unify Slicing and Concept Assignment, Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE 2002), Richmond, Virginia, USA, pp. 11-21, 2002.
M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, S. Danicic, M. Laurence, J. Howroyd and C. Fox: Node Coarsening Calculi for Program Slicing, IEEE Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'2001), Stuttgart, Germany, pp.25-34, 2001.
M. Harman, R. M. Hierons, C. Fox, S. Danicic, and J. Howroyd: Pre/Post Conditioned Slicing, IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance (ICSM'2001), Florence, Italy, pp.138-147, 2001.
C. Fox, M. Harman, R. Hierons, and S. Danicic: Backward Conditioning: a new program specialisation technique and its application to program comprehension, IEEE International Workshop on Program Comprehension (IWPC 2001). Toronto, Canada, pp. 89-97, 2001.
R.M. Hierons and H. Ural: UIO Sequence Based Checking Sequences for Distributed Test Architectures, Concordia Prestigious Workshop on Communication Software Engineering, University of Concordia, Montreal, Canada, 2001.
C. Fox, M. Harman, R. Hierons, and S. Danicic: ConSIT: A Conditioned Program Slicer IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance (ICSM'2000), pp. 216-226, 2000.
M. Harman, R. M. Hierons and S. Danicic: The relationship between program dependence and mutation testing, Mutation 2000, San Jose, California, USA, pp. 15-23, 2000.
R.M. Hierons and M. Harman: Program analysis and test hypotheses complement, ICSE International Workshop on Automated Program Analysis, Testing and Verification, pp. 32-39, 2000.
S. Reid, M. Harman, R. Hierons, M. Holcombe, B. Jones, M. Roper, and M. Woodward: A Framework for Measurement in Software Testing , 7th European International Conference Software Testing Analysis & Review (EuroSTAR'99), Princesa Sophia Intercontinental Hotel, BARCELONA, Spain, 1999.
M. Harman, R. Hierons, M. Holcombe, B. Jones, S. Reid, M. Roper, and M. Woodward: Towards a Maturity Model for Empirical Studies of Software Testing, Fifth Workshop on Empirical Studies of Software Maintenance (WESS'99), Keble College, Oxford, UK, 1999.
M. Harman, C. Fox, R. Hierons, D. Binkley, and S. Danicic: Program Simplification as a Means of Approximating Undecidable Propositions, 7th IEEE International Workshop on Program Comprehension (IWPC'99) , Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, pp. 208-217, 1999.

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