Verification, Validation and the Future of Software Engineering

Abstract

It is proposed that the central purpose of engineering is to create products which meet customer needs; and that the central problem of engineering is to be able to deliver with each product, adequate assurance that those needs are met. These propositions are well accepted in most branches of engineering. It is argued that software engineering is beginning to be transformed by increasing concern for these propositions, and that this transformation will continue for decades into the future. 2 O-8186-7635-3/96 $05.00