The word "test" is derived from the Latin word testun, an earthen pot or vessel used for assaying metals to determine the presence or measure the weight of various elements [2]. The act of testing is the process of establishing confidence that a program or system does what it is supposed to [1].

Both the state of the art and the state of the practice of testing are flawed.

Theory (the state of the art) presents us with a rich set of approaches for removing errors from software, but very little advice on how to pick and choose from that set. In fact, theory often suggests eschewing much of testing, using such formal approaches as proof of correctness instead.

Software testing is often one of the most challenging issues IT management has to contend with. While many organizations have a quality assurance group, in practice these are usually quality control teams whose primary activity is to exercise the end product against whatever forms of product requirements are available.

The objective of testing is to satisfy people. Maybe we should use the word "satisfying" instead of testing. Well-tested software that is free of major defects is more likely to satisfy customers. But the paying customers are not the only group of people we should try to satisfy. The people on our project team deserve satisfaction, too.

The term "testing" conjures up an image of executing software in a prescribed way to see whether it functions as intended. An alternative form of testing (or, more precisely, quality control) is to invite some colleagues to examine your work products for defects and improvement opportunities: a peer review.

Today, a new debate rages: agile software development versus rigorous software development.

-- Jim Highsmith, Fellow, Cutter Business Technology Council

There is a new software methodology war currently going on between the supporters of the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and the supporters of what is being called agile development.

I was reminded of the tale of Saint George and the Dragon (see text box below) about three years ago in a conversation with the president of a Chicago-based company that seemed incapable of delivering any piece of software on time. He was looking for someone to come in and slay the dragon -- a sweep of the sword, a thrust of the spear, and the software overruns would disappear.

The subject of risk seems to come up often at Cutter Consortium, either voiced by our subscribers or discussed by our Senior Consultants. But one has the feeling that, as Mark Twain intoned about the weather, "Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it." So, risk endures as part of the messiness of life: not as part of the richness or the challenges -- just the muck.

The subject of risk seems to come up often at Cutter Consortium, either voiced by our subscribers or discussed by our Senior Consultants. But one has the feeling that, as Mark Twain intoned about the weather, "Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it." So, risk endures as part of the messiness of life: not as part of the richness or the challenges -- just the muck.

Interestingly, this question has an unsaid assumption that senior management is against risk management. In a recent Cutter survey on the state of risk management practice, 35% of senior management and policy makers see software risk management as being very useful and effective, with only 8% saying they don't think it is very useful.

Interestingly, this question has an unsaid assumption that senior management is against risk management. In a recent Cutter survey on the state of risk management practice, 35% of senior management and policy makers see software risk management as being very useful and effective, with only 8% saying they don't think it is very useful.

Successfully managing IT expenditure and ensuring successful delivery of IT projects and levels of service continue to be foremost in the minds of corporate executives, particularly in light of today's tight economy and struggles within the technology sector.

Successfully managing IT expenditure and ensuring successful delivery of IT projects and levels of service continue to be foremost in the minds of corporate executives, particularly in light of today's tight economy and struggles within the technology sector.

IT Industry

Declining stock market valuations have created an incentive to acquire new systems by acquiring the companies that own them. The challenge of integrating these secondhand systems will be substantial and will force us to reexamine and rethink our enterprise system architecture (ESA).

IT Industry

Declining stock market valuations have created an incentive to acquire new systems by acquiring the companies that own them. The challenge of integrating these secondhand systems will be substantial and will force us to reexamine and rethink our enterprise system architecture (ESA).

The subject of risk seems to come up often at Cutter Consortium, either voiced by our subscribers or discussed by our Senior Consultants. But one has the feeling that, as Mark Twain intoned about the weather, "Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it." So, risk endures as part of the messiness of life: not as part of the richness or the challenges -- just the muck.

The subject of risk seems to come up often at Cutter Consortium, either voiced by our subscribers or discussed by our Senior Consultants. But one has the feeling that, as Mark Twain intoned about the weather, "Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it." So, risk endures as part of the messiness of life: not as part of the richness or the challenges -- just the muck.

The subject of risk seems to come up often at Cutter Consortium, either voiced by our subscribers or discussed by our Senior Consultants. But one has the feeling that, as Mark Twain intoned about the weather, "Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it." So, risk endures as part of the messiness of life: not as part of the richness or the challenges -- just the muck.

Late last year, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced guidelines that would have allowed software patent owners to charge "reasonable and non-discriminatory" (RAND) royalties on patented software that W3C might choose to embed in its Web services standards. This predictably raised a hailstorm of protest from the Internet and "open source" communities that form much of the W3C's constituency.