Verification and Validation

Verification and Validation



Validation: are we building the right product? Verification: are we building the product right?
(Boehm, 1979)

Verification and Validation



Verification:


Software conforms to specification Software meets the customer s expectations

Validation:


V & V goals


Establish levels of confidence according to:



 

Software function: dependant on how critical the sw is for the organization User expectations Marketing environments: dependant on competing sw, market prices, delivery times

Approaches to V&V


Software inspections / peer reviews:

 

Analysis of sw documents and source code Static process, doesn t need to run the system Running an implementation of the sw with test data Dynamic process, main V&V technique

Software testing:


Inspections vs. testing

Software inspections

Requirements specification High-level design Formal specification Detailed design

Program

Prototype

Program Testing

Types of testing


Validation testing:


Checks for sw meeting customer s requirements Checks performance and reliability Looks for inconsistencies between program and specification

Defect testing:


System debugging


Debugging locates and corrects sw defects found during V&V

Specification Test cases

Test results

Locate error

Design error repair

Repair error Retest program

Software test plans

Requirements specification System specification System design Detailed Detailed design design

Acceptance test plan

Sys integration test plan

Sub-system integration test plan

Module and unit code and test

Service

Acceptance test

System integration test

Sub-system integration test

Structure of a test plan

      

Testing process Requirements traceability Tested items Testing schedule Test recording procedures Hardware and software requirements Constraints

Inspection vs testing


Inspection => static => one error cannot lead to another one Inspections can be performed on incomplete version Inspections look for more than sw defects

Inspections checklist
     

Data faults Control faults I/O faults Interface faults Storage management faults Exception management faults