Reliability testing in software

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Reliability testing is about exercising an application so that failures are discovered and removed before the system is deployed. The purpose of reliability testing is to determine product reliability, and to determine whether the software meets the customer’s reliability requirements.

• According to ANSI, Software Reliability is defined as the probability of failure-free software operation for a specified period of time in a specified environment. Software Reliability is not a direct function of time. Electronic and mechanical parts may become “old” and wear out with time and usage, but the software will not rust or wear-out during its life cycle. The software will not change over time unless intentionally changed or upgraded.
• Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. A test is considered reliable if we get the same result repeatedly. Software Reliability is the probability of failure-free software operation for a specified period of time in a specified environment. Software Reliability is also an important factor affecting system reliability.
• Reliability testing will tend to uncover earlier those failures that are most likely in actual operation, thus directing efforts at fixing the most important faults.
• Reliability testing may be performed at several levels. Complex systems may be tested at component, circuit board, unit, assembly, subsystem and system levels.

Software reliability is a key part of software quality. The study of software reliability can be categorized into three parts: Modeling, Measurement and Improvement.

1. Modelling: Software reliability modelling has matured to the point that meaningful results can be obtained by applying suitable models to the problem. There are many models exist, but no single model can capture a necessary amount of the software characteristics. Assumptions and abstractions must be made to simplify the problem. There is no single model that is universal to all the situations.
2. Measurement: Software reliability measurement is naive. Measurement is far from commonplace in software, as in other engineering fields. “How good is the software, quantitatively?” As simple as the question is, there is still no good answer. Software reliability cannot be directly measured, so other related factors are measured to estimate software reliability and compare it among products. The development process, faults and failures found are all factors related to software reliability.
3. Improvement: Software reliability improvement is hard. The difficulty of the problem stems from an insufficient understanding of software reliability and in general, the characteristics of software. Until now there is no good way to conquer the complexity problem of software. Complete testing of a moderately complex software module is infeasible. The defect-free software product cannot be assured. A realistic constraint of time and budget severely limits the effort put into software reliability improvement.

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