Verification and Validation for Safety Critical Software

Software Validation and Verification (V&V) is the process of checking that a software system meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose. This book describes the technology, process and organizational details associated with the application of V&V techniques to six of the most visible and safety critical systems.

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Software Validation and Verification (V&V) is the process of checking that a software system meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose. Simply put, verification is ensuring that the software has been built according to the requirements and design specs while validation ensures that the software actually meets the users needs and that the specifications are correct in the first place. In short, verification ensures that you built it right and validation confirms that you built the right thing. The proposed book will be the first of its kind to encapsulate technology, process, and financial data associated with a credible large-scale, highly-visible and complex adaptation of modern - formal - methods of software validation and verification (V&V), which differs from standard methods in that standard methods involve dynamic (manual) checking while formal verification involves proving or disproving a mathematical model or theorem where flawless performance is absolutely necessary.
The book will describe the technology, process and organizational details associated with the application of state of the art V&V techniques to six of the most visible and safety critical systems in modern history, namely to NASA missions under development (Constellation projects, James Webb Telescope, Mars Space Lander, Juno, etc). This case-study approach will capture the technology, process, and organizational aspects associated with a complex system success story. The process will be presented in a straight-forward manner and the book's chapter sequence will mirror the procedural timeline for the validation and verification process for complex safety critical software systems. It provides the underlying theory but practical enough for use in a real project environment by non-specialists. It covers technical aspects of validation and run-time verification of software requirements in enough detail to allow software developers to understand how to do it and the benefits to be gained. It covers organizational and cost-benefit analysis, not just the technical aspect, so that developers as well as managers will be able to justify implementation of the V&V methods presented.