Professor T.H. Tse

MBE; PhD LSE; FBCS
Honorary Professor

Email: thtse [AT] cs [DOT] hku [DOT] hk
Homepage: hku.hk/thtse

 

 

 

Prof. T.H. Tse received the PhD from the London School of Economics. He is currently an Honorary Professor in Computer Science at The University of Hong Kong after retiring from his full professorship in July 2014. He has been recognized internationally as the Pioneer in integrating formal and practical methods in software engineering. His research interests are program testing and debugging. Application areas of his research include object-oriented software, services computing, pervasive computing, concurrent systems, graphic applications, and numerical programs. He has more than 270 publications, including papers in IEEE TSE, IEEE TSC, Inf Sci, CACM, ICSE, and FSE, as well as a book with Wiley-IEEE Press and a book with Cambridge University Press. He has been ranked internationally as no. 2 among experts in metamorphic testing.

Prof. Tse is an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Reliability and an Editorial Board Member of Software Testing, Verification and Reliability and Software: Practice and Experience. He has also served as Steering Committee Chair of QRS and QSIC, Steering Committee Member of COMPSAC 2002 to 2008, Program Chair of COMPSAC 2001, and Graphic Designer of FSE 2014. He was also on the search committee for the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering in 2013. He was twice a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford and was a Visiting Distinguished Scholar of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Tse is a Life Fellow of the British Computer Society. He had been a Council Member of the Vocational Training Council for eight years. He was selected for a Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award, an Outstanding Disabled Person of the Year Award, and a State Science and Technology Award (recommended by the Ministry of Education, China). He was decorated with an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kindgom.

Research Interests

Program testing and debugging

Selected Publications

1. W.E. Wong and T.H. Tse (eds.), Handbook of Software Fault Localization: Foundations and Advances, Wiley-IEEE Press, Hoboken, NY, USA, xiv + 590 pages (2023). [abstract | formal website at Wiley Press | paperback edition US$250 | eBook edition US$100 from Wiley online library | online edition US$10 to US$42 per chapter from Wiley online library, or US$31 per chapter from IEEE Xplore | bookcover design by T.H. Tse]
2. T.Y. Chen and T.H. Tse, "New visions on metamorphic testing after a quarter of a century of inception", in Ideas, Visions and Reflections Track, Proceedings of the ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE '21), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 1487-1490 (2021). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library]
3. Z.Q. Zhou, C. Liu, T.Y. Chen, T.H. Tse, and W. Susilo, "Beating random test case prioritization", IEEE Transactions on Reliability 70 (2): 654-675 (2021). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | technical report TR-2020-04] [journal impact factor 5.9]
4. Z.Q. Zhou, T.H. Tse, and M. Witheridge, "Metamorphic robustness testing: Exposing hidden defects in citation statistics and journal impact factors",  IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 47 (6): 1164-1183 (2021). [abstract | free download from IEEE Xplore | free download from IEEE digital library | ICSE '20 journal-first presentation in YourTube | press-release | reported in ScienceAlert, Nature Index, Communications of the ACM, Psychology Today, The Australian, and Wikepedia] [journal impact factor 7.4; 11 citations] 
5. J. Chen, Q. Bao, T.H. Tse, T.Y. Chen, J. Xi, C. Mao, M. Yu, and R. Huang, "Exploiting the largest available zone: A proactive approach to adaptive random testing by exclusion", IEEE Access 8: 52475-52488 (2020). [abstract | free download from IEEE Xplore] [journal impact factor 3.9]
6. Z.Q. Zhou, T.H. Tse, and M. Witheridge, "An extended abstract of `Metamorphic robustness testing: Exposing hidden defects in citation statistics and journal impact factors'", Journal First Track, IEEE/ACM 42nd International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE '20), Seoul, South Korea (2020). [ICSE presentation in YouTube | PowerPoint with sound recording | postprint of extended abstract | journal-first paper in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering]
7. C. Mao, X. Zhan, T.H. Tse, and T.Y. Chen, "KDFC-ART: a KD-tree approach to enhancing Fixed-size-Candidate-set Adaptive Random Testing", IEEE Transactions on Reliability 68 (4): 1444-1469 (2019). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | technical report TR-2009-01] [journal impact factor 5.9]
8. T.Y. Chen, F.-C. Kuo, H. Liu, P.-L. Poon, D. Towey, T.H. Tse, and Z.Q. Zhou, "Metamorphic testing: A review of challenges and opportunities", ACM Computing Surveys 51 (1): 4:1-4:27 (2018). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [journal impact factor 16.6; 213 citations]
9. L. Mei, Y. Cai, C. Jia, B. Jiang, W.K. Chan, Z. Zhang, and T.H. Tse, "A subsumption hierarchy of test case prioritization for composite services", IEEE Transactions on Services Computing 8 (5): 658-673 (2015). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2014-07] [journal impact factor 8.1; 33 citations]
10. L. Mei, W.K. Chan, T.H. Tse, B. Jiang, and K. Zhai, "Preemptive regression testing of workflow-based web services", IEEE Transactions on Services Computing 8 (5): 740-754 (2015). The article was selected as the spotlight paper of this issue. [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2014-04] [journal impact factor 8.1; 32 citations.]
11. H.Y. Chen and T.H. Tse, "Equality to equals and unequals: A revisit of the equivalence and nonequivalence criteria in class-level testing of object-oriented software", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 39 (11): 1549-1563 (2013). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2013-06] [journal impact factor 7.4; 12 citations]
12. T.Y. Chen, P. Hu, H. Li, and T.H. Tse, "An enhanced flow analysis technique for detecting unreachability faults in concurrent systems", Information Sciences 194 (7): 254-269 (2012). [abstract | paper from ScienceDirect | technical report TR-2012-01] [journal impact factor 8.1]
13. T.Y. Chen, P.-L. Poon, S.-F. Tang, and T.H. Tse, "DESSERT: A divide-and-conquer methodology for identifying categories, choices, and choice relations for test case generation", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 38 (4): 794-809 (2012). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2011-11] [journal impact factor 7.4; 18 citations]
14. K. Zhai, B. Xu, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "CARISMA: A context-sensitive approach to race-condition sample-instance selection for multithreaded applications", in Proceedings of the 2012 International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA '12), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 221-231 (2012). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [29 citations.]
15. Z. Zhang, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "Fault localization based only on failed runs", IEEE Computer 45 (6): 64-71 (2012). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2012-04] [journal impact factor 2.2; 38 citations]
16. X. Feng, D.L. Parnas, T.H. Tse, and T. O'Callaghan, "A comparison of tabular expression-based testing strategies", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 37 (5): 616-634 (2011). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2009-19] [journal impact factor 7.4; 15 citations]
17. T.Y. Chen, T.H. Tse, and Z.Q. Zhou, "Semi-proving: An integrated method for program proving, testing, and debugging", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 37 (1): 109-125 (2011). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2009-10] [journal impact factor 7.4; 72 citations]
18. B. Jiang, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "On practical adequate test suites for integrated test case prioritization and fault localization", in Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Quality Software (QSIC '11), IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, pp. 21-30 (2011). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2009-09] [best paper award; 20 citations]
19. T.Y. Chen, F.-C. Kuo, R.G. Merkel, and T.H. Tse, "Adaptive random testing: The ART of test case diversity", Journal of Systems and Software 83 (1): 60-66 (2010). [abstract | paper from ScientDirect | technical report TR-2009-07 | invited blog-post in JSS Editor's Selection | official announcement on the selection as Grand Champion of the Most Influential Paper Award] [journal impact factor 3.5; 365 citations]
20. P.-L. Poon, S.-F. Tang, T.H. Tse, and T.Y. Chen, "CHOC'LATE: A framework for specification-based testing", Communications of the ACM 53 (4): 113-118 (2010). [Journal impact factor 22.7. 20 citations.]
21. T.H. Tse, A Unifying Framework for Structured Analysis and Design Models: An Approach Using Initial Algebra Semantics and Category Theory, Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science, vol. 11, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, xi + 179 pages. [abstract | eBook edition US$33.00 (2010) | paperback edition US$40.99 (2009) | hardback edition US$134.00 (1991) | selected reviews] [55 citations]
22. B. Jiang, Z. Zhang, T.H. Tse, and T.Y. Chen, "How well do test case prioritization techniques support statistical fault localization", in Proceedings of the 33rd Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC '09), vol. 1, IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, pp. 99-106 (2009). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2009-09] [best paper award; acceptance rate 14.7%; 89 citations]
23. L. Mei, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "Data flow testing of service choreography", in Proceedings of the 7th Joint Meeting of the European Software Engineering Conference and the ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundation of Software Engineering (ESEC '09/FSE-17), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 151-160 (2009). [abstract + author-ize free download from ACM digital library] [acceptance rate 14.7%; 61 citations]
24. L. Mei, Z. Zhang, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "Test case prioritization for regression testing of service-oriented business applications", in Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on World Wide Web (WWW '09), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 901-910 (2009). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [acceptance rate 11.7%; 104 citations]
25. Z. Zhang, W.K. Chan, T.H. Tse, B. Jiang, and X. Wang, "Capturing propagation of infected program states", in Proceedings of the 7th Joint Meeting of the European Software Engineering Conference and the ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundation of Software Engineering (ESEC '09/FSE-17), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 43-52 (2009). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [acceptance rate 14.7%; 140 citations]
26. H. Lu, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "Testing pervasive software in the presence of context inconsistency resolution services", in Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE '08), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 61-70 (2008). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [acceptance rate 15.1%; 72 citations]
27. L. Mei, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "A tale of clouds: Paradigm comparisons and some thoughts on research issues", in Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE Asia-Pacific Services Computing Conference (APSCC '08), IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, pp. 464-469 (2008). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2008-14] [363 citations]
28. L. Mei, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "Data flow testing of service-oriented workflow applications", in Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE '08), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 371-380 (2008). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [acceptance rate 15.1%; 111 citations; according to ICSE reviewers, this work serves to "open the door to further investigation and research challenges"]
29. Z. Zhang, B. Jiang, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "Debugging through evaluation sequences: A controlled experimental study", in Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC '08), IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, pp. 128-135 (2008). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2008-07] [best paper award; acceptance rate 19.5%; 20 citations]
30. T.H. Tse, F.C.M. Lau, W.K. Chan, P.C.K. Liu, and C.K.F. Luk, "Testing object-oriented industrial software without precise oracles or results", Communications of the ACM 50 (8): 78-85 (2007). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [journal impact factor 22.7; 28 citations]
31. H. Lu, W.K. Chan, and T.H. Tse, "Testing context-aware middleware-centric programs: A data flow approach and an RFID-based experimentation", in Proceedings of the 14th ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering (SIGSOFT '06/FSE-14), ACM, New York, NY, USA, pp. 242-252 (2006). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library] [acceptance rate 20.0%; 97 citations]
32. T.H. Tse, S.S. Yau, W.K. Chan, H. Lu, and T.Y. Chen, "Testing context-sensitive middleware-based software applications", in Proceedings of the 28th Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC '04), vol. 1, IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, pp. 458-465 (2004). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2004-07] [evaluated as the best paper; 118 citations]
33. T.Y. Chen, P.-L. Poon, and T.H. Tse, "A choice relation framework for supporting category-partition test case generation", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 29 (7): 577-593 (2003). [abstract | paper from IEEE Xplore | paper from IEEE digital library | technical report TR-2003-01] [journal impact factor 7.4; 88 citations]
34. H.Y. Chen, T.H. Tse, and T.Y. Chen, "TACCLE: A methodology for object-oriented software testing at the class and cluster levels", ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 10 (1): 56-109 (2001). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library | review by ACM Computing Reviews] [journal impact factor 4.4; 261 citations]
35. T.Y. Chen, T.H. Tse, and Y.T. Yu, "Proportional sampling strategy: A compendium and some insights", Journal of Systems and Software 58 (1): 65-81 (2001). Journal impact factor 3.5. [abstract | paper from ScienceDirect | postprint] [161 citations]
36. H. Leung, T.H. Tse, F.T. Chan, and T.Y. Chen, "Test case selection with and without replacement", Information Sciences 129 (1-4): 81-103 (2000). [abstract | paper from ScienceDirect | postprint] [journal impact factor 8.1; 16 citations]
37. H.Y. Chen, T.H. Tse, F.T. Chan, and T.Y. Chen, "In black and white: An integrated approach to class-level testing of object-oriented programs", ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 7 (3): 250-295 (1998). [abstract + author-izer free download from ACM digital library | review by ACM Computing Reviews] [journal impact factor 4.4; 270 citations]
38. T.H. Tse and L. Pong, "Towards a formal foundation for DeMarco data flow diagrams", The Computer Journal 32 (1): 1-12 (1989). [abstract | free download from Oxford journals] [journal impact factor 1.4; 75 citations]

Research Grants

• "CARISMA: a Context-sensitive Approach to Race-condItion test case Selection for Multithreaded software Applications" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 2012-16 (project no. 716612)
• "TASTE: Testing of Adaptive Service-based sofTwarE" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 2011-15 (project no. 717811)
• "EAT and DREAM: Effective Automatic Testing and Debugging for REAl-life eMbedded wireless communications software" supported by the Australian Research Council 2011-14 (project no. LP100200208)
• "CACTES: a formal framework for CompositionAl Conformance TEsting of Service compositions" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 2008-11 (project no. 717308)
• "FLOW: automatic Fault LOcalization for Wireless sensor network software applications: a statistical fault divergence approach" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 2007-10 (project no. 716507)
• "TIRAMISU: Testing context-sensItive, concurRent And MIddleware-baSed Ubiquitous software" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 2006-08 (project no. 717506)
• "WSN: an extensible fault-based predicate testing toolset for Wireless Sensor Network software applications" supported by the Innovation and Technology Commission 2006-07 (project no. ITS/076/06)
• "Semi-proving: towards an integrated method for program testing, proving and debugging" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 2004-07 (project no. 714504)
• "VITAMIN: a VIsual authoring Toolset with Automatic code generation capability for ManufacturIng automatioN" supported by the Innovation and Technology Commission 2002-04 (project no. UIM/077)
• "CHOC'LATE: a CHOiCe-reLAtion framework for TEst case generation" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 2001-04 (project no. 702901)
• "TACCLE: object-oriented software Testing At the Class and Cluster LEvels" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 1999-2002 (project no. 703399)
• "TESTS: Towards Effective Subdomain Testing Strategies" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 1997-2000 (project no. 702997)
• "In black and white: an integrated approach to object-oriented testing" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 1995-98 (project no. 029195)
• "COD: a Communicating Objects Design model" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 1994-98 (project no. 044194)
• "NOODLE: a Net-based Object-Oriented DeveLopment Environment" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 1992-96 (project no. 028992)
• "ALPSE: Application of Logic Programming to Software Engineering" supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong 1988-91 (project no. HKU 52/88)