IN-PROCESS EVALUATION FOR SOFTWARE INSPECTION AND TEST

The goal of software inspection and test is to reduce the expected cos t of software failure over the life of a product. This paper extends t he use of defect triggers, the events that cause defects to be discove red, to help evaluate the effectiveness of inspections and test scenar ios. In the case of inspections, the defect trigger is defined as a se t of values that associate the skills of the inspector with the discov ered defect. Similarly, for test scenarios, the defect trigger values embody the deferring strategies being used in creating these scenarios . The usefulness of triggers in evaluating the effectiveness of softwa re inspections and tests is demonstrated by evaluating the inspection and test activities of some software products. These evaluations are u sed to point to both deficiencies in inspection and test strategies an d to progress made in improving such strategies. The trigger distribut ion of the entire inspection or test series may then be used to highli ght areas for further investigation, with the aim of improving the des ign, implementation, and test processes.