Software Verification and Validation, without this two concepts, software development would be just a luck machine. By luck, I mean that you would need to have the luck to guess what the client wants and if the software that one is developing is in fact what the client desires.
With that said, there are two famous questions that are described to explain the differences between the two concepts which are the following:
- Verification: Are we building the product right?
- Validation: Are we building the right product?
These questions are the perfect example of what verification and validations do. In the first instance, verification tries to solve the issue of building the software in the right way, it includes reviewing the current state of the development and some inspections so that it works correctly. But something that is working correctly doesn’t mean that it is the correct product. And that is where validation comes into place.
Validations helps with testing the specifications that where given in first place. This assures that the software that is being developed is the software that the client wants. Here it is a better explanation of both concepts.
- Verification
The main objective is to complete the development goal without any bugs or issues with the software. There are some requirements that must be fulfilled and the verification checks for that.
Verification is also called the Static Testing, this is because of the activities that are involved in this phase which are the following:
- Reviews
- Desk-checking
- Inspections
- Walkthroughs
- Validation
The high level requirements are analyzed here. If the development is the right one, the validation will notice for that. It is like a comparison between what was or is developed and what was expected.
Validation is also called the Dynamic Testing, this is because the testing needs to be done with the execution of the software, that is why the activities involved with are are all dynamic.
- Unit testing
- Integration testing
- White box testing
- Black box testing
There are Verification and Validation standards that can help the business, with more complex testing and more efficient processes.
Some of them involve both verification and validation, and the most important ones are the following:
- Verification of ethical claims covered in ISO-17033
- Environmental claims covered by ISO-14021
- Verification of ESG data covered by ISO-14064
- IEEE for verification and validation, this standard is the most common when dealing with systems viewpoints, intensity and software integrity levels.
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