An Approach to the Modeling of Software Testing with Some Applications

In this paper, an approach to the modeling of software testing is described. A major aim of this approach is to allow the assessment of the effects of different testing (and debugging) strategies in different situations. It is shown how the techniques developed can be used to estimate, prior to the commencement of testing, the optimum allocation of test effort for software which is to be nonuniformly executed in its operational phase. In addition, the question of application of statistical models in cases where the data environment undergoes changes is discussed. Finally, two models are presented for the assessment of the effects of imperfections in the debugging process.