Software Deviation Analysis

Jon Damon Reese Dept. of C.S.E. University of Washington Box 352350 Seattle, WA 98195, U.S.A. +1 (206) 616-1844 jdreese@cs. washington.edu Validation of software requirements is an important part of software engineering. This paper describes a new safety analysis technique called software deviation analysis to help identify weaknesses in how software handles an imperfect environment. The technique propagates deviations in software inputs to output deviations. A qualitative analysis is used to improve the search efficiency.