Deciding How Long to Test Software

Testing software before its release is an important stage of the software testing process. We propose a decision theoretic solution to the problem of deciding the optimal length of the testing period. We make use of a well-known error detection model and a sensible utility. Three testing plans are described: the single stage, the two stage and the next fixed time look ahead. A study to compare the performance of the plans shows the relative performance of each plan under a variety of assumptions about the quality of the software to be tested. All the plans are illustrated by using the well-known naval tactical data system data set.