Choosing a Testing Method to Deliver Reliability

Phyllis G. Frankl, Richard G. Hamlet, Bev Littlewood, Lorenzo Strigini

Abstract

Testing methods are compared in a model where program failures are detected and the software changed to eliminate them.The question considered is whether it is better to use tests that seek out failures ("debug testing") or to simulate usage and find failures along the way ("operational testing'')."Better" is measured by the delivered reliability obtained after all test failures have been eliminated.This comparison extends previous work, where the measure was the probability of detecting a failure.The theoretical treatment of the paper is probabilistic and analytical.Revealing special cases are exhibited in which each kind of testing is superior.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{Frankl-al:ICSE97,
  author    = {Phyllis G. Frankl and
               Richard G. Hamlet and
               Bev Littlewood and
               Lorenzo Strigini},
  title     = {Choosing a Testing Method to Deliver Reliability},
  booktitle = {ICSE},
  pages     = {68--78},
  publisher = {{ACM}},
  year      = {1997},
}

Choosing a Testing Method to Deliver Reliability

Abstract

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