Requirements-Driven Automated Software Testing: A Systematic Review

Abstract: Automated software testing has the potential to enhance efficiency and reliability in software development, yet its adoption remains hindered by challenges in aligning test generation with software requirements. REquirements-Driven Automated Software Testing (REDAST) aims to bridge this gap by leveraging requirements as the foundation for automated test artifact generation. This systematic literature review (SLR) explores the landscape of REDAST by analyzing requirements input, transformation techniques, test outcomes, evaluation methods, and existing limitations. We conducted a comprehensive review of 156 papers selected from six major research databases. Our findings reveal the predominant types, formats, and notations used for requirements in REDAST, the automation techniques employed for generating test artifacts from requirements, and the abstraction levels of resulting test cases. Furthermore, we evaluate the effectiveness of various testing frameworks and identify key challenges such as scalability, automation gaps, and dependency on input quality. This study synthesizes the current state of REDAST research, highlights trends, and proposes future directions, serving as a reference for researchers and practitioners aiming to advance automated software testing.