Software Reliability (PDF)

Software Reliability reviews some fundamental issues of software reliability as well as the techniques, models, and metrics used to predict the reliability of software. Topics covered include fault avoidance, fault removal, and fault tolerance, along with statistical methods for the objective assessment of predictive accuracy. Development cost models and life-cycle cost models are also discussed.
This book is divided into eight sections and begins with a chapter on adaptive modeling used to predict software reliability, followed by a discussion on failure rate in software reliability growth models. The next chapter deals with methods for predicting and estimating software reliability, with emphasis on their strengths and weaknesses. The reader is methodically introduced to formal inspection in software development; the effects of product design, program structure, development methods, and the environments of product testing and use on product reliability; and types of software metrics in relation to reliability. The remaining chapters explore the ways in which software engineers have sought to achieve software reliability through testing; problems and standards in software reliability data collection; and applications of time series models to software reliability analysis.
This monograph will be of interest to software engineers and designers.