Spec-to-Test: Mastering REST API Automated Black-box Testing with RestTestGen

Michele Pasqua

Assistant professor in the Computer Science department at the University of Verona, Italy

Abstract: REST APIs are the cornerstone of modern web service interoperability. Despite increasing interest in automated testing research, evaluating new techniques often requires significant engineering effort to build underlying tool infrastructures. The recurrent development of core features, such as parsing REST API specifications and handling HTTP requests, hinders innovation and delays the dissemination of research results. This tutorial introduces RestTestGen, an extensible framework designed to accelerate the prototyping of REST API black-box testing tools. RestTestGen provides a robust suite of reusable and customizable components, including OpenAPI specification parsers, endpoint parameter fuzzers, HTTP request mutation operators, and automated test oracles. By leveraging these primitives, researchers can focus on implementing novel algorithms rather than boilerplate infrastructure.

Bio: Michele Pasqua (Webpage) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Verona, Italy. His main research interests include abstract interpretation, program verification, static analysis, software testing, theoretical foundations of programming languages and software engineering, language-based security, and distributed systems design.