Introduction to Software Testing

Software and safety-critical systems

• We are now using software in systems that we call safety-critical. These are systems that, if they fail, will have very serious consequences:
• nuclear reactor monitoring
• flight control systems
• software controllers on X-ray machines

Software and safety-critical systems (Cont’d)

• So far, we have been fairly careful about introducing software intro safety-critical systems:
• extensive testing, code reviews, formal proofs of correctness
• use of good engineering principles, KISS, limit frills
• So far, there have been relatively few failures of safety-critical software systems.