Toward a more reliable theory of software reliability

The notions of time and the operational profile incorporated into software reliability are incomplete. Reliability should be redefined as a function of application complexity, test effectiveness, and operating environment. We do not yet have a reliability equation that application complexity, test effectiveness, test suite diversity, and a fuller definition of the operational profile. We challenge the software reliability community to consider these ideas in future models. The reward for successfully doing so likely will be the widespread adoption of software reliability prediction by the majority of software publishers.