Using Assurance Cases to Guide Verification and Validation of Research Software

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Smith, W. Spencer, Lin, Jingyi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Smith, W. Spencer
Lin, Jingyi
author_facet Smith, W. Spencer
Lin, Jingyi
contents Research software engineers can use Assurance Cases (ACs) to guide Verification and Validation (VnV) efforts. An AC is a structured argument that a property like correctness holds. We illustrate how ACs can guide VnV activities via a case study of software for automatically extracting the 3D segmentation of the aorta from medical images of the chest. The AC argument suggests that the following evidence is required: comparison to a pseudo-oracle; traceability between requirements, design, code and tests; review of all artifacts by a domain expert with proper credentials; documentation of input assumptions; and a warning that only qualified people should use the software. The case study highlights that code is not the only artifact of interest for building confidence and that making an explicit distinction between software and user responsibilities is useful.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_03291
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Using Assurance Cases to Guide Verification and Validation of Research Software
Smith, W. Spencer
Lin, Jingyi
Software Engineering
Research software engineers can use Assurance Cases (ACs) to guide Verification and Validation (VnV) efforts. An AC is a structured argument that a property like correctness holds. We illustrate how ACs can guide VnV activities via a case study of software for automatically extracting the 3D segmentation of the aorta from medical images of the chest. The AC argument suggests that the following evidence is required: comparison to a pseudo-oracle; traceability between requirements, design, code and tests; review of all artifacts by a domain expert with proper credentials; documentation of input assumptions; and a warning that only qualified people should use the software. The case study highlights that code is not the only artifact of interest for building confidence and that making an explicit distinction between software and user responsibilities is useful.
title Using Assurance Cases to Guide Verification and Validation of Research Software
topic Software Engineering
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.03291