Technologies for Improving the Dependability of Software- Intensive Systems: A Review of NASA Experience and Needs

Software is central to the mission of many NASA systems. It is also a major source of failure. Fortunately, techniques such as best current practice, complexity measurement, fault tolerance, formal methods, and software reliability exist to mitigate the risk of system failure because of software. Unfortunately, these techniques have become disciplines of their own with very little integration, resulting in a lack of support from project managers. NASA SR&QA should develop a strategy to integrate the techniques into the agency reliability plan.