TERSE : A Tool for Evaluating Software Reliability
Models
Mei-Hwa Chen, M. K. Jones, Aditya P. Mathur and
Vernon J. Rego
Software Engineering Research Center
Department of Computer Sciences
Purdue University
W. Lafayette, In 47907
ABSTRACT
Currently, more than
forty models for estimating reliability exist.
Thus, a
practitioner is faced with the problem of selecting one out
of many models to
predict the behavior of given software.
In such a situation, a method or tool to
compare the reliability estimates from
different models can certainly provide confidence
in the selection of models and the estimates
given by the selected model.
To benchmark existing or new
models, we present a new tool terse
which can produce sets of failure data for a given program and
compare the estimates produced by existing models.
It can also generate random flow graphs for use by a given model.
This feature offers a rich source of data for investigating
effects of varying model parameters on reliability estimates
and allows users to evaluate new models.