The Utility and Practicality of Quantifying Software Reliability

摘要

We argue that quantifying software reliability is important in demonstratingthat system-level risks are As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).Furthermore, we demonstrate that such quantification is possible in at leastone meaningful case. It is, however, unlikely to be practical in every case.This means it is unlikely to be included as an explicit objective in standards.Hence, for those cases where software reliability can be quantified, merelyfollowing a standard may lead to risk-reduction opportunities being missed.