Jython for Embedded Software Validation

Because of the inherent diversity of software environments, test automation in embedded systems requires a flexible software model and an easily customizable architecture, especially when the validation on a single hardware platform might involve a number of deployments of the system under test on multiple OSs.
A win choice in this scenario can be the adoption of a flexible design pattern, as the runtime plug-in model, helping test engineers to compose and integrate their test solutions on a shared and distributed framework, tailoring the provided services to their needs.
In this talk we discuss how we addressed this problem by exploiting the open source Eclipse platform together with the adaptability of Jython. The proposed solution enables users to develop their own test environments in Jython, for device driver validation, as autonomous and self-contained software components - called Execution Engines – that implement the required test logic and may be plugged in at runtime and executed concurrently on one single Eclipse platform.
The talk will cover the technical challenges behind this model, and the great efficiency improvements that Jython offers in terms of ease of integration with existing systems, short ramping time and ease of deployment on different platforms (Linux/Windows).