Software Quality Management

Unit – 3 

Roy Antony Arnold G
Asst Prof /CSE
Asst. Prof./CSE
• Software reliability models are

when it is available to the

customers.
• The criterion variable under study is the number of 
y
defects in specified time intervals (weeks, months, 
etc.), or the time between failures.
• Such an estimate is important for two reasons:
– (1) It is an objective statement of the quality of the
product
d t
– (2) It is a resource planning tool for the software
maintenance phase.
phase
• Reliability models can be broadly classified into two categories:
and (Conte et al., 1986).
• A static model uses other attributes of the project or program
modules to estimate the number of defects in the software.software
General Form :

The number of defects (y) is dependant on the attributes (x) of the 
The number of defects (y) is dependant on the attributes (x) of the
product and the process by which it is produced,  plus some 
error (e) due to unknowns which inherently exist.
• A dynamic model,
model usually based on statistical distributions,
distributions uses
the current development defect patterns to estimate end‐
product reliability.
• Dynamic Models are classified in two categories
– those that model the entire development process (Rayleigh Model)
– those that model the back‐end testing phase (Exponential Model 
and Reliability Growth Models)
and Reliability Growth Models)
• The Rayleigh model is a parametric model
in the sense that it is based on a specific
statistical
i i l distribution.
di ib i It is
i a dynamic
d i
reliability model.
• When the parameters of the statistical
distribution are estimated based on the
data from a software project, projections
about
b t theth defect
d f t rate
t off the
th project
j t can be
b
made based on the model.
• The Rayleigh model is a member of the family of the
.
• One of its marked characteristics is that the tail of its
probability density function approaches zero
asymptotically, but never reaches it.
• Weibull distributions are used for predicting reliability and 
probability distribution
• Two standard functions for graphing Weibull
• Rayleigh is a special case of the Weibull
Rayleigh is a special case of the Weibull
where the shape parameter (m) equals 2:

• The formulas represent a standard distribution.
• The total area under the curve is 1.

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¾The defect rate observed duringg the development
p p
process is
positively correlated with the defect rate in the field. (Fig.)
¾ Assuming the defect removal effectiveness remains unchanged, then
a higher
h h curve (more
( d f
defects)
) during
d d l
development means a higher
h h
defect injection rate and hence a higher field defect rate.

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¾ Given the same error injection rate,
rate if more defects are
discovered and removed earlier then fewer will remain in
later stages
g and the field q
qualityy will be better.
– In the fig. the areas under the curves are the same but the curves 
peak at varying points. Curves that peak earlier have smaller areas 
at the tail the GA phase
at the tail, the GA phase.

In short,
short “Do it right the first time.”
time ”
This means that if each step of the
development process is executed properly
with minimum errors, the end product's
quality will be good.
¾ Given the same error injection rate,
rate if more defects are
discovered and removed earlier then fewer will remain in
later stages
g and the field q
qualityy will be better.
– In the fig. the areas under the curves are the same but the curves 
peak at varying points. Curves that peak earlier have smaller areas 
at the tail the GA phase
at the tail, the GA phase.
• Most
Most statistical software packages support 
statistical software packages support
Weibull Distributions.
• Applications can be developed due to the 
l b d l dd h
clearly defined algorithms for Weibull.
• COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) products 
can also be used:
can also be used:

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• Accuracy of model estimates
estimates.
• Input data must be accurate and reliable.
• To establish high Predictive Validity,
and empirical validity must be
established.
established
• The validity of software reliability models
. A certain model may work well for a
specific organization or development structure, but
not for others.
• No universally good software reliability model
exists.

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• High‐level Design Review (I0), Low‐level Design Review (I1), Code 
g g ( ), g ( ),
Inspection (I2), Unit Test (UT), Component Test (CT), System Test (ST), 
and General Availability Phase (GA)