A controlled experiment in program testing and code walkthroughs/inspections
GJ Myers - Communications of the ACM, 1978 - dl.acm.org
GJ Myers
Communications of the ACM, 1978•dl.acm.orgThis paper describes an experiment in program testing, employing 59 highly experienced
data processing professionals using seven methods to test a small PL/I program. The results
show that the popular code walkthrough/inspection method was as effective as other
computer-based methods in finding errors and that the most effective methods (in terms of
errors found and cost) employed pairs of subjects who tested the program independently
and then pooled their findings. The study also shows that there is a tremendous amount of …
data processing professionals using seven methods to test a small PL/I program. The results
show that the popular code walkthrough/inspection method was as effective as other
computer-based methods in finding errors and that the most effective methods (in terms of
errors found and cost) employed pairs of subjects who tested the program independently
and then pooled their findings. The study also shows that there is a tremendous amount of …
This paper describes an experiment in program testing, employing 59 highly experienced data processing professionals using seven methods to test a small PL/I program. The results show that the popular code walkthrough/inspection method was as effective as other computer-based methods in finding errors and that the most effective methods (in terms of errors found and cost) employed pairs of subjects who tested the program independently and then pooled their findings. The study also shows that there is a tremendous amount of variability among subjects and that the ability to detect certain types of errors varies from method to method.