Software Development and Testing: A System Dynamics Simulation and Modeling Approach

摘要

Software-development and testing is a complex activity that often shows signs of contradicting instinctive activity in that outcomes can vary drastically with deliberate consequences. Software-development and testing has many complexity including dynamic behavior and feedback mechanisms, as well as various interacting factors. System dynamics is a modelii methodology that is well suited to explaining the root causes of contradicting instinctive activities — through its focus < building a simulation model that reflects causal relationships, feedback and delays. The production of a high quali software product requires application of both defect prevention and defect detection techniques. A common defe detection strategy is to subject the product to several phases of testing such as unit, integration, and system. These testii /phases consume significant project resources and cycle time. As software companies continue to search for ways f reducing cycle time and development costs while increasing quality, software testing processes emerge as a prime target t investigation. This paper presents a system dynamics model of software development, better understanding testing process* Motivation for modeling testing processes is presented along with a an executable model of the unit test phase, motivates the importance of software cycle time reduction. The objective of the research is to provide decision make with a model that will enable the prediction of the impact a set of process improvements will have on their softwa development cycle time.