<s>
Search-based	B-Algorithm
software	I-Algorithm
engineering	I-Algorithm
(	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
)	O
applies	O
metaheuristic	B-Algorithm
search	O
techniques	O
such	O
as	O
genetic	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
,	O
simulated	B-Algorithm
annealing	I-Algorithm
and	O
tabu	B-Algorithm
search	I-Algorithm
to	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
activities	O
in	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
stated	O
as	O
optimization	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Optimization	O
techniques	O
of	O
operations	O
research	O
such	O
as	O
linear	B-Algorithm
programming	I-Algorithm
or	O
dynamic	B-Algorithm
programming	I-Algorithm
are	O
often	O
impractical	O
for	O
large	O
scale	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
problems	O
because	O
of	O
their	O
computational	O
complexity	O
or	O
their	O
assumptions	O
on	O
the	O
problem	O
structure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Researchers	O
and	O
practitioners	O
use	O
metaheuristic	B-Algorithm
search	O
techniques	O
,	O
which	O
impose	O
little	O
assumptions	O
on	O
the	O
problem	O
structure	O
,	O
to	O
find	O
near-optimal	O
or	O
"	O
good-enough	O
"	O
solutions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SBSE	B-Algorithm
problems	O
can	O
be	O
divided	O
into	O
two	O
types	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
SBSE	B-Algorithm
converts	O
a	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
problem	O
into	O
a	O
computational	O
search	O
problem	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
tackled	O
with	O
a	O
metaheuristic	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
space	O
is	O
typically	O
too	O
large	O
to	O
be	O
explored	O
exhaustively	O
,	O
suggesting	O
a	O
metaheuristic	B-Algorithm
approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
problems	O
can	O
be	O
reformulated	O
as	O
a	O
computational	O
search	O
problem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
"	O
search-based	B-Application
application	I-Application
"	O
,	O
in	O
contrast	O
,	O
refers	O
to	O
using	O
search-engine	O
technology	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
search	O
techniques	O
,	O
in	O
another	O
industrial	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
earliest	O
attempts	O
to	O
apply	O
optimization	O
to	O
a	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
problem	O
was	O
reported	O
by	O
Webb	O
Miller	O
and	O
David	O
Spooner	O
in	O
1976	O
in	O
the	O
area	O
of	O
software	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1992	O
,	O
S	O
.	O
Xanthakis	O
and	O
his	O
colleagues	O
applied	O
a	O
search	O
technique	O
to	O
a	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
problem	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
was	O
first	O
used	O
in	O
2001	O
by	O
Harman	O
and	O
Jones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Search-based	B-Algorithm
software	I-Algorithm
engineering	I-Algorithm
is	O
applicable	O
to	O
almost	O
all	O
phases	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
development	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Search	O
techniques	O
have	O
been	O
applied	O
to	O
other	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
activities	O
,	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
requirements	O
analysis	O
,	O
design	O
,	O
refactoring	O
,	O
development	O
,	O
and	O
maintenance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Identifying	O
a	O
software	B-Error_Name
bug	I-Error_Name
(	O
or	O
a	O
code	O
smell	O
)	O
and	O
then	O
debugging	O
(	O
or	O
refactoring	O
)	O
the	O
software	O
is	O
largely	O
a	O
manual	O
and	O
labor-intensive	O
endeavor	O
,	O
though	O
the	O
process	O
is	O
tool-supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
objective	O
of	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
is	O
to	O
automatically	O
identify	O
and	O
fix	O
bugs	B-Error_Name
(	O
for	O
example	O
via	O
mutation	O
testing	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Genetic	B-Algorithm
programming	I-Algorithm
,	O
a	O
biologically-inspired	O
technique	O
that	O
involves	O
evolving	O
programs	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
crossover	O
and	O
mutation	O
,	O
has	O
been	O
used	O
to	O
search	O
for	O
repairs	O
to	O
programs	O
by	O
altering	O
a	O
few	O
lines	O
of	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
repaired	O
55	O
out	O
of	O
105	O
bugs	B-Error_Name
for	O
approximately	O
$8	O
each	O
in	O
one	O
test	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Search-based	B-Algorithm
software	I-Algorithm
engineering	I-Algorithm
has	O
been	O
applied	O
to	O
software	O
testing	O
,	O
including	O
automatic	O
generation	O
of	O
test	O
cases	O
(	O
test	O
data	O
)	O
,	O
test	O
case	O
minimization	O
and	O
test	O
case	O
prioritization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
in	O
program	O
optimization	O
,	O
or	O
modifying	O
a	O
piece	O
of	O
software	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
more	O
efficient	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
speed	O
and	O
resource	O
use	O
,	O
has	O
been	O
the	O
object	O
of	O
successful	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tools	O
available	O
for	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
include	O
OpenPAT	O
,	O
EvoSuite	B-Language
,	O
and	O
,	O
a	O
code	B-Application
coverage	I-Application
measurement	O
tool	O
for	O
Python	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Profiling	O
via	O
instrumentation	B-Application
in	O
order	O
to	O
monitor	O
certain	O
parts	O
of	O
a	O
program	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
executed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Obtaining	O
an	O
abstract	B-Data_Structure
syntax	I-Data_Structure
tree	I-Data_Structure
associated	O
with	O
the	O
program	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
automatically	O
examined	O
to	O
gain	O
insights	O
into	O
its	O
structure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applications	O
of	O
program	O
slicing	O
relevant	O
to	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
include	O
software	O
maintenance	O
,	O
optimization	O
and	O
program	O
analysis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Code	B-Application
coverage	I-Application
allows	O
measuring	O
how	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
is	O
executed	O
with	O
a	O
given	O
set	O
of	O
input	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
relatively	O
new	O
area	O
of	O
research	O
,	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
does	O
not	O
yet	O
experience	O
broad	O
industry	O
acceptance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Successful	O
applications	O
of	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
in	O
the	O
industry	O
can	O
mostly	O
be	O
found	O
within	O
software	O
testing	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
capability	O
to	O
automatically	O
generate	O
random	O
test	O
inputs	O
for	O
uncovering	O
bugs	B-Error_Name
at	O
a	O
big	O
scale	O
is	O
attractive	O
to	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
Facebook	B-Application
acquired	O
the	O
software	O
startup	O
Majicke	O
Limited	O
that	O
developed	O
Sapienz	O
,	O
a	O
search-based	O
bug	B-Error_Name
finding	O
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
other	O
application	O
scenarios	O
,	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineers	I-General_Concept
may	O
be	O
reluctant	O
to	O
adopt	O
tools	O
over	O
which	O
they	O
have	O
little	O
control	O
or	O
that	O
generate	O
solutions	O
that	O
are	O
unlike	O
those	O
that	O
humans	O
produce	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
use	O
in	O
fixing	O
or	O
improving	O
programs	O
,	O
developers	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
confident	O
that	O
any	O
automatically	O
produced	O
modification	O
does	O
not	O
generate	O
unexpected	O
behavior	O
outside	O
the	O
scope	O
of	O
a	O
system	O
's	O
requirements	O
and	O
testing	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
concern	O
is	O
that	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
might	O
make	O
the	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineer	I-General_Concept
redundant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Supporters	O
claim	O
that	O
the	O
motivation	O
for	O
SBSE	B-Algorithm
is	O
to	O
enhance	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
the	O
engineer	O
and	O
the	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
