The ability of directed tests to predict software quality

作     者：Michael, CC Voas, J 

作者机构：RST Res Sterling VA USA 

出 版 物：《ANNALS OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING》 (软件工程纪事)

年 卷 期：1997年第4卷第0期

页      面：31-64页

核心收录：

学科分类：08[工学] 0835[工学-软件工程] 0812[工学-计算机科学与技术（可授工学、理学学位）] 

主　　题：COMPUTER software quality control TESTING COMPUTER software development SOFTWARE patterns COMPUTER programming SOFTWARE compatibility TEST systems SOFTWARE engineering SOFTWARE productivity 

摘      要：Many statistical methods for estimating software quality rely on representative testing: they assume a program is tested in an environment that simulates the environment where it will be used. Often, however, a software tester s aim is to uncover defects as soon as possible, and representative testing may not be the best way to do this. Instead, tests are often selected according to some plan that is believed to result in an efficient but thorough examination of the software s behavior. This raises the question of how practical measurements of software quality, like software probability-of-failure, can be obtained from directed testing. In this paper, we discuss some factors affecting the ability of directed tests to predict software quality when quality is measured in the environment where the software operates, but the directed tests do not simulate that environment. We consider a number of ways to measure the power of a directed test method, and show how these affect the tester s ability to predict software quality.