DeepState: Symbolic Unit Testing for C and C++

Unit testing is a popular software development methodology that can help developers detect functional regressions, explore boundary conditions, and document expected behavior. However, writing comprehensive unit tests is challenging and time-consuming, and developers seldom explore the obscure (and bug-hiding) corners of software behavior without assistance. DeepState is a tool that provides a Google Test-like API to give C and C++ developers push-button access to symbolic execution engines, such as Manticore and angr, and fuzzers, such as Dr. Fuzz. Rather than learning multiple complex tools, users learn one interface for defining a test harness, and can use various methods to automatically generate tests for software. In addition to providing a familiar interface to binary analysis and fuzzing for parameterized unit testing, DeepState also provides constructs that aid in the construction of API-sequence tests, where the tool chooses the functions or methods to call, allowing for even more diverse and powerful tests. By serving as a front-end to multiple tools, DeepState additionally provides a way to apply (novel) high-level strategies to test generation, and to compare effectiveness and efficiency of testing back-ends, including binary analysis tools.