Rethinking the Taxonomy of Fault

Detection Techniques

Michal Young

Software Engineering Research Center
Department of Computer Sciences
Purdue University

Richard N. Taylor

Department of Information and Computer Science
University of California, Irvine

September 1991

Abstract

The conventional classification of software fault detection techniques as static or dynamic analysis is inadequate as a basis for identifying useful relationships between techniques. A more useful distinction is between techniques that sample the space of possible executions, and techniques that fold the space. The new distinction provides better insight into the ways different techniques can interact, and is a basis for considering hybrid fault detection techniques including combinations of testing and formal verification.

Keywords: Fault detection, hybrid analysis techniques, static analysis, dynamic analysis.

An earlier version of this paper appeared in Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Software Engineering, Pittsburgh, May 1989. Address correspondence to the first author at Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. Email: young@cs.purdue.edu. Phone: (317) 494-6023.

This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant CCR-8704311, with cooperation from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, by the National Science Foundation under grants CCR-8451421, CCR-8521398, and CCR- 9010135, and by Hughes Aircraft (PYI program) and TRW (PYI program).