When to stop testing: A study from the perspective of software reliability models

The important question often asked in the software industry is: when to stop testing and to release a software product? Unfortunately, in industrial practices, it is not easy for project manager and developers to be able to answer this question confidently. Software release time is a trade-off between capturing the benefits of an earlier market introduction and the deferral of a product release in order to enhance functionalities or to improve quality. The question has a lot to do with the time required to detect and correct faults in order to ensure a specified reliability goal. During testing, reliability measure is an important criterion in deciding when to release a software product. This study helps answer this question by presenting the perspectives from a study of software reliability models, with focuses on reliability paradigm, efficient management of resources and decision making under uncertainty.