Mind the Gap: Are Practitioners and Researchers in Software Testing Speaking the Same Language?

Context. Software testing is the area of software engineering focused on determining whether a software meets the planned requirements and on evaluating its quality. Lately, academic researchers have increased their attention in this topic due to the impact of its success on software projects. However, recent studies have discussed that practitioners and researchers might have different views regarding what is important to explore and study in order to improve the software testing process. Goal. This study aims to investigate the differences of interests between academic researchers and practitioners in software testing, pointing out observable convergences and divergences between the two communities. Method. A mixed-method approach based on a mapping study, a quantitative study and a focus group was applied to collect quantitative and qualitative data from professionals and academic sources. Results. Our results confirm the existence of a gap between the two communities and the findings suggest that, while researchers are mainly focused on the proposition of novel tools and techniques, practitioners are more interested in issues related to the evaluation and discussions of existing approaches, tools and techniques. Therefore, academic researchers might consider identify, understand and modify the existing tools and strategies, instead of building new ones. Conclusion. In general, the distinction between the two groups is noticeable and there is only one strong mutual interest between both practitioners and researchers, namely, test automation. Therefore, there is a need for the development of strategies that reduce the gap between academia and industrial practice and bring them closer in order to increase the quality of the software testing processes.