Software testability: an experiment in measuring simulation reusability

Software reuse can be more readily enabled if the testing of the code in the previous environment is still applicable to the new environment. The reusability of previous verification efforts is an important parameter is assessing the “immediate” reusability of the code; in this paper, the verification technique that we are focusing on is software testing. This paper presents the use of a software testability measure, sensitivity analysis, as a quantitative assessment of the reusability of previous verification. The ability to reuse verification is a factor to consider in determining the reusability of code. We have applied this technique to a large NASA supersonic software simulation, High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT), and the reusability results of that application suggest a possible concern about the sufficiency of the original verification.