Dynamic testing resource allocation modeling for multi-release software using optimal control theory and genetic algorithm

Abstract

PurposeThe use of software is overpowering our modern society. Advancement in technology is directly proportional to an increase in user demand which further leads to an increase in the burden on software firms to develop high-quality and reliable software. To meet the demands, software firms need to upgrade existing versions. The upgrade process of software may lead to additional faults in successive versions of the software. The faults that remain undetected in the previous version are passed on to the new release. As this process is complicated and time-consuming, it is important for firms to allocate resources optimally during the testing phase of software development life cycle (SDLC). Resource allocation task becomes more challenging when the testing is carried out in a dynamic nature.Design/methodology/approachThe model presented in this paper explains the methodology to estimate the testing efforts in a dynamic environment with the assumption that debugging cost corresponding to each release follows learning curve phenomenon. We have used optimal control theoretic approach to find the optimal policies and genetic algorithm to estimate the testing effort. Further, numerical illustration has been given to validate the applicability of the proposed model using a real-life software failure data set.FindingsThe paper yields several substantive insights for software managers. The study shows that estimated testing efforts as well as the faults detected for both the releases are closer to the real data set.Originality /valueWe have proposed a dynamic resource allocation model for multirelease of software with the objective to minimize the total testing cost using the flexible software reliability growth model (SRGM).