Software Fault Complexity and Implications for Software Testing

Published

June 16, 2004

Author(s)

D. Richard Kuhn, D Wallace, A M. Gallo

Abstract

Exhaustive testing of computer software is intractable, but empirical studies of software failures suggest that testing can in some cases be effectively exhaustive. Data reported in this study and others show that software failures in a variety of domains were caused by combinations of relatively few conditions. These results have important implications for testing. If all faults in a system can be triggered by a combination of n or fewer parameters, then testing all n-tuples of parameters is effectively equivalent to exhaustive testing for variables with a small set of discrete values.

Citation

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering

Volume

30

Issue

6

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

combinatorial testing, fault complexity, software assurance, software quality assurance, software testing

Citation

Kuhn, D. , Wallace, D. and Gallo, A. (2004), Software Fault Complexity and Implications for Software Testing, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2004.24 (Accessed October 13, 2025)