A Methodology for Software Test-Case Selection in Constrained Environments Using Desirability Functions

The completion of quality software products within the expected time frame represents a major problem for companies that develop software applications. As the field grows, the software industry continues to struggle with delivering quality products in a timely manner. A major cause for low quality in software products can be attributed to inadequate software testing efforts. In such cases, practical constraints, such as scheduling and cost leave decision-makers with the tough decision of partially executing the testing phase to deliver the software product on time. This creates a problem when determining the best subset of testing cases to execute. Therefore, it is important to develop systematic test cases prioritization processes that consider the complete set of functional or quality goals to be tested and provide the best fit to increase quality, reduce cost, and reduce testing time. This paper presents a methodology that considers multiple criteria to assign test cases to software projects. A sample case study isused to show the methodology's capabilities.