Examination of a software-test cost model

Testing any software system is a formidable challenge. The purpose of the research reported in this paper is to isolate the costs involved in software testing and to study how the scheduling of software tests impacts the overall test costs. A formal model of software test costs is presented and the results of all-orderings evaluation of possible test schedules is reported, together with results interpretable as indicating that, under described conditions, the variation of total test cost across all schedules is insufficient to warrant intensive effort to determine the optimal schedule