This report presents initial results in the area of software testing and analysis produced as part of the Software Engineering Impact Project. The report describes the historical development of runtime assertion checking, including a description of the origins of and significant features associated with assertion checking mechanisms, and initial findings about current industrial use. A future report will provide a more comprehensive assessment of development practice, for which we invite readers of this report to contribute information.
 Clarke and Rosenblum reported the historical development of runtime assertion checking and described how it has been used in some industries as reported in a number of publications REF .
A historical perspective on runtime assertion checking in software development
SOEN
Computer Science