Sensitivity-analysis and estimating number-of-faults in removaldebugging

摘要

Estimating the number of faults in a computer program is importantnin software debugging. A martingale equation is used to estimate thennumber of faults in removal-debugging by assuming a knownnproportionality constant between the failure rate of a `newly detectednfault' and a `seeded fault'. The sensitivity of the assumption isnexamined, and the results are generalized to allow an unknownnproportionality. The information of the proportionality is shown to bencrucial in the precision and availability of the estimates. It isnadvisable to obtain the information about the proportionality constantnfrom external sources in order to improve the efficiency of the methodnin this paper