Validation, verification, and testing: diversity rules

Many software project managers try to decide whether to enhance reliability by performing detailed inspections or by doing execution-based testing using operational profiles. The authors regard this as a false choice. Operational-profile-based testing is an important method, but it is not a simple, cost-effective panacea. Instead, they suggest a better approach: a diverse validation, verification, and testing strategy that includes inspections and execution-based testing. Such an approach addresses the more appropriate question of what selection of W and T techniques should a project employ to achieve the functionality and quality that the product requires?.