Software verification: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:37, 11 December 2024

Latest revision as of 18:46, 23 June 2025

(One intermediate revision by one other user not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|Verification that software meets requirements}}

'''Software verification''' is a discipline of [[software engineering]], [[programming languages]], and [[theory of computation]] whose goal is to assure that software satisfies the expected requirements.

Line 9 ⟶ 10:

Under the [[ACM Computing Classification System]], software verification topics appear under "Software and its engineering", within "Software creation", whereas [[Program verification]] also appears under [[Theory of computation]] under Semantics and reasoning, Program reasoning.

== Dynamic verification (Test, experimentation) ==

*

Dynamic verification is performed during the execution of software, and dynamically checks its behavior; it is commonly known as the [[Software testing|Test]] phase.

Verification is a Review Process.

Depending on the scope of tests, we can categorize them in three families:

* ''Test in the small'': a test that checks a single function or class ([[Unit test]])

* ''Test in the large'': a test that checks a group of classes, such as

** Module test (a single module)

** [[Integration test]] (more than one module)

** System test (the entire system)

* ''Acceptance test'': a formal test defined to check acceptance criteria for a software

** Functional test

** Non functional test (performance, [[stress testing (software)|stress test]])

The aim of software dynamic verification is to find the errors introduced by an activity (for example, having a medical software to analyze bio-chemical data); or by the repetitive performance of one or more activities (such as a stress test for a web server, i.e. check if the current product of the activity is as correct as it was at the beginning of the activity).

== Static verification (Analysis) ==

Static verification is the process of checking that software meets requirements by inspecting the code before it runs. For example:

* ''[[Code conventions]] verification''

* ''Bad practices ([[anti-pattern]]) detection''

* [[Software metric]]s calculation

* [[Formal verification#Formal verification for software|Formal verification]]

Verification by Analysis - The analysis verification method applies to verification by investigation, mathematical calculations, logical evaluation, and calculations using classical textbook methods or accepted general use computer methods. Analysis includes sampling and correlating measured data and observed test results with calculated expected values to establish conformance with requirements.

== Narrow scope ==

When it is defined more strictly, verification is equivalent only to static testing and it is intended to be applied to artifacts. And, validation (of the whole software product) would be equivalent to dynamic testing and intended to be applied to the running software product (not its artifacts, except requirements). Notice that requirements validation can be performed statically and dynamically (See [[Software verification and validation#Artifact or specification validation|artifact validation]]).

== Comparison with validation ==

{{Main|Software verification and validation}}

Software verification is often confused with software validation. The difference between [[Verification and validation (software)|''verification'' and ''validation'']]:

* Software ''verification'' asks the question, "Are we building the product right?"; that is, does the software conform to its specifications? (As a house conforms to its blueprints.)

* Software ''validation'' asks the question, "Are we building the right product?"; that is, does the software do what the user really requires? (As a house conforms to what the owner needs and wants.)

==See also==