CONFORMITY TESTING AND DEMONSTRATING
THIS SUBJECT BROADLY CONCERNS THE PROPERTIES BY WHICH A SOFTWARE PRODUCT'S QUALITY MAY BE CHARACTERIZED AND QUANTIFIED AND THE MEANS BY WHICH A SOFTWARE PRODUCT'S QUALITY AND RELIABILITY MAY BE ESTIMATED AND PREDICTED . IT FURTHER ADDRESSES THE WAYS IN WHICH THESE AND OTHER PROPERTIES OF INTEREST MAY BE TESTED AND DEMONSTRATED .
TWO MAIN APPROACHES TO QUALITY AND RELIABILITY ASSURANCE CAN BE CONSIDERED , NAMELY CLOSE CONTROL OVER THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS , AND MEASUREMENT AND CORRECTIVE ACTION ; IN EACH CASE , THE AIM IS TO PROVIDE TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS THAT WILL ASSIST THE ASSURANCE CONTROLS BOTH PRE - AND POST-PRODUCTION .
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED MAINLY FROM THE SHORT-TERM ASPECT ( PROGRESS MONITORING , ANALYSIS OF ERROR REPORTS , ETC . , FOR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ) .
. " REQUEST : RELIABILITY AND QUALITY OF EUROPEAN SOFTWARE " ( REF . 300 : A/84 )
THIS PROJECT AIMS TO PROVIDE THE TECHNIQUES , TOOLS AND PROCEDURES SUFFICIENT TO SPECIFY , PREDICT , MEASURE AND ASSURE THE QUALITY AND RELIABILITY OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE . THE AREAS OF WORK INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING :
- DEFINITION OF THE TERM " QUALITY " WITH RESPECT TO SEVERAL ATTRIBUTES , IDENTIFICATION OF METHODS OF MEASURING QUALITY AND INVESTIGATION OF THE CRITERIA FOR VALIDITY FOR THOSE METRICS , AND CONSTRUCTION OF A QUANTITATIVE MODEL FOR THE PREDICTION OF QUALITY ;
- DEFINITION OF RELIABILITY AND IDENTIFICATION OF A MODEL AND TOOLS TO MEASURE AND PREDICT RELIABILITY , CONSIDERING BOTH SOFTWARE SYSTEMS IN GENERAL AND ALSO THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF SYSTEMS IN WHICH ULTRA-HIGH RELIABILITY IS ESSENTIAL ;
- DEFINITION AND PROVISION OF A DATA BASE FOR STORAGE OF MEASURES OF QUALITY AND RELIABILITY , AND SPECIFICATION OF PROCEDURES FOR DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ;
- ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF USING FORMAL METHODS ON RELIABILITY PREDICTION AND DEMONSTRATION ;
- DEFINITION OF A METHODOLOGY FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF SOFTWARE PRODUCTS , PROVIDING CRITERIA FOR THE DELIVERY OF WARRANTIES .
. B-TYPE RESEARCH THEMES FOR PRODUCT METRICS
B-TYPE PROPOSALS ARE INVITED WHICH COULD TACKLE ASPECTS WHICH ARE NOT COVERED BY ; E . G . PERFORMANCE PREDICTION .
OBJECTIVES TO MEET ARE , E . G . :
- COST EFFECTIVENESS
- CONTROL , TUNING , CALIBRATION
- EFFICIENCY
- EXECUTION TIME FOR REAL TIME SYSTEMS
- ACCURACY
- FLEXIBILITY
THROUGH OBSERVATION , ANALYSIS AND MODELLING .
. IT REFERENCE TESTING AND DEMONSTRATING
OBJECTIVES
TO DEVELOP TECHNIQUES , METHODS AND TOOLS ALLOWING FOR I . T . REFERENCE TESTING AND DEMONSTRATING .
THIS OBJECTIVE IS MULTIPLE :
- IMPROVING SPECIFICATION IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THE AUTOMATIZATION OF AT LEAST PART OF THE PROCESS OF TESTING
- DEVELOPING SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES METHODS AND TOOLS FOR CONFORMITY TESTING , QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE TESTING , AS WELL AS USABILITY TESTING .
RATIONALE/BACKGROUND
IN VIEW OF THE INCREASED USAGE OF SOFTWARE IN HIGHLY CRITICAL APPLICATIONS , AS WELL AS THE GRADUAL RECOGNITION OF PRODUCT LIABILITY FOR SOFTWARE , CONFORMITY