Software assessment

About this book

Is software quality testing really effective or just a waste of time? The skeptics conclude that it is an exercise in futility to try to measure the reliability and safety of these complex systems under all critical circumstances. They contend that quality assurance comes only through a strict adherence to rigorous development process models. In this groundbreaking book, Michael Friedman and Jeffrey Voas dispel that myth. They demonstrate that extremely accurate, cost-effective software quality testing can now be a reality, thanks to powerful new analytical tools. Central to the approach outlined in Software Assessment is a sophisticated assessment optimization technique called testability analysis. Pioneered at the College of William and Mary and NASA by Jeffrey Voas, testability analysis predicts the likelihood that latent bugs will be detected during testing. Drawing upon their experiences working on various high-profile projects - including air traffic control systems, an automated high-speed train-control system, and a CASE-generated autopilot system - they describe how testability analysis is used to determine which tests work and which do not; how much testing should be done on a given program; which areas of a program (modules, lines of code, etc.) are the most testable and which are the least testable; and how to allocate precious resources. The authors also describe original techniques for designing and coding programs to maximize their testability and a new method of generating test cases to support testing and testability analysis. Software Assessment offers a balanced presentation of theory and practice and is designed to function as either a graduate-level text or professional reference. Featuring exhaustive coverage of the theoretical foundations of reliability, safety, and testability, it uses real-world examples, illustrations, and clear descriptions to explore all of the latest techniques for assessing those qualities.