Toward a better method of software testing i z

While software testing is necessary for the production of quality products, it is generally one of the least efficient steps in the software development process. Testing typically consumes over 50 percent of the development effort. Software testing is thought of as an art and not a science, and artistic approaches to testing propagate the thinking. The complex test systems, complex program implementations, seemingly unrelated requirements and design information, and the complex system interactions all come to haunt and confuse the poor software developer when it comes time to certify the product is correct. In this document the authors have attempted to step back from all of these program intricacies and define what it means to test software programs. The authors then define a cause and effect testing methodology that integrates itself into the overall software development technique. Promising results are described from two development efforts that have used this approach for software testing.