TTCN-3 FAQ

by admin on January 24, 2012

1.    What is TTCN-3?
-    Testing and Test Control Notation Version 3 (maintained by ETSI – European Telecom Standardization Institute)
-    TTCN-3 Testing Language
-    Standardized modern high level language for testing
-    TTCN-3 Architecture
-    TTCN-3 TCI and TRI interfaces
-    Black-box, functional testing of reactive systems

2.    What are the most popular domains for TTCN-3
-    Mobile telecommunications: 3G, 3GPP LTE, WiMAX, GSM
-    Internet protocols: SIP, IMS, IPv6…
-    Intelligent transport systems (ITS)
-    Broadband technologies: ATM, DSL
-    Middleware platforms: Web Services,
-    IOT – Internet Of Things (phones, building automation, smart metering, fleet management system, 6lowPan etc)
-    Automotive (AUTOSAR conformance and acceptance testing
-    Smart Cards
-    …

3.    How does usage of TTCN-3 save resources (time and money)?
-    Offers potential for reducing training and test maintenance costs significantly
-    TTCN-3 is easy to learn
-    Pre-developed TTCN-3 test scripts by ETSI
-    Increases testing productivity and enables more test cycles
-    Test script generation can be automatic by using model-based testing

4.    Who is using TTCN-3 already?
-    TTCN-3 has strong market presence – it is used, maintained and promoted by ETSI
-    TTCN-3 has proven track record of users (Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia, Siemens, Ericsson, Motorola, Vodafone, EMT, France Telecom, O2, Rohde & Schwarz, Aeroflox)
-    TTCN-3 has been increasing the presence in different domains

5.    Is studying of TTCN-3 secure investment?
-    Yes, TTCN-3 is secure investment, because:
·    TTCN-3 has been used almost 20 years
·    It is constantly developed and maintained at ETSI
·    There is Number of independent TTCN-3 tool providers (you are not dependent on single tool provider)
·    TTCN-3 has well provided support and common methodology
·    TTNC-3 is internationally standardized testing language (TTCN-3 standard suite)
·    TTCN-3 is specifically designed for testing and certification
·    It has been proved to work in very large and complex industrial tests, e.g 3GPP LTE, Wimax and IPv6 etc.
·    TTCN-3 is a testing technology that applies to a variety of application domains and types of testing

6.    Why to use TTCN-3 for testing and not some other high level programming language (python, java)?
-    Tracing and lookup facilities are provided by TTCN-3 tool (no programming needed)
-    In TTCN-3 operational semantics is clearly defined
-    Cost benefits:
·    Coding effort
·    Results analysis efforts
·    Maintenance effort
·    Debugging efforts
·    Skill/training efforts

7.    What type of coding effort is needed when using TTCN-3?
-    Abstract Test Suite (ATS)
·    Test dedicated language – coding effort reduced
·    ATS concept makes test suite usable on different platforms and tools
-    System Adapter (SA)
·    Standardized TTCN-3 Runtime Interface (TRI) for C, C++, C# and Java mapping

8.    What are TTCN-3 testing results analysis and code debugging efforts?
-    When test was executed – how to know that the results are correct?
·    TTCN-3 has built in verdict mechanism
·    TTCN-3 Tools offer means for analysis and tracing
-    TTCN-3 tools have built-in debuggers (Elvior tool has a native TTCN-3 debugger)

9.    Does using of TTCN-3 reduce test suites maintenance efforts?
-    Yes, maintenance effort is reduced, because of
·    Concept of test events (easier definition of test functionality)
·    Separation between abstract and concrete layers (TRI, TCI)
·    Less code to look at given functionality

10.    What are the TTCN-3 skill/training efforts?
-    TTCN-3 is high level test dedicated programming language:
·    Syntax similar to C and Pascal
·    Test dedicated concepts ands constructions
-    TTCN-3 study is incremental study:
·    Basics – within some hours to 1 day
·    Advanced – within 2 days
·    Skills build up during the time

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