Web Services Regression Testing.

Service-oriented Architectures (SOA) introduce a major shift of perspective in software engineering: in contrast to components, services are used instead of being physically integrated. This leaves the user with no control over changes that can happen in the service itself. When the service evolves, the user may not be aware of the changes, and this can entail unexpected system failures. When a system integrator discovers a service and starts to use it, she/he may need to periodically re-test it to build confidence that (i) the service delivers over the time the desired functionality and (ii) at the same time it is able to meet Quality of Service requirements. Test cases can be used as a form of contract between a provider and the system integrators. This chapter describes an approach and a tool to allow users to run a test suite against a service to discover if functional and non-functional expectations are maintained over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]