Software Safety and Reliability: Techniques, Approaches, and Standards of Key Industrial Sectors (Practitioners) [Paperback]

Debra S. Herrmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0769502997 | ISBN-13: 978-0769502991 | Edition: 1

The role of software has changed from simply generating financial or mechanical data to monitoring and controlling equipment that directly affects human life and safety. As a result, a more thorough understanding and familiarity with the specialized techniques used to achieve and assess the safety and reliability of software is needed in academia, industry, and government.

This original text introduces the concepts, techniques, and approaches used to achieve and assess software safety and reliability. Debra Herrmann presents a cross-section of current safety and reliability standards that cross multiple industrial sectors while focusing on the additional required activities to achieve software safety and reliability. In organizing this text, the she has three objectives. The first is to raise the reader's awareness on the importance of software safety and reliability and on its role in mission critical systems by presenting many illustrative, ever day examples. The second objective is to provide practical information about the current methods used to achieve and assess software safety and reliability. The final objective is to improve the understanding and practice of software safety and reliability by consolidating the latest research so that it can be compared and analyzed for the future.

The book is written for engineers, scientists, managers, regulators, and policy makers involved in the design, development, acquisition, and certification of safety-critical systems.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The role of software has changed from simply generating financial or mechanical data to monitoring and controlling equipment that directly affects human life and safety. As a result, academia industry and government demand a more thorough understanding and familiarity with the specialized techniques used to achieve and assess the safety and reliability.

Debra Herman introduces the concepts, techniques, and approaches necessary for software safety and reliability in today's environment. Focus is placed on the additional requirements necessary in current safety and reliability standards from various industrial sectors. Hermann organized the text with three objectives. In presenting everyday examples, she meets the first objective of raising the reader's awareness of the importance of software safety and reliability and its role in mission critical systems. The second is to provide practical information about the current methods used to achieve safety and reliability. Improving the understanding and practice of software safety and reliability through consolidation and analysis of current research for future use is Hermann's final objective.

The book is written for engineers, scientists, managers, regulators, and policy makers involved in the design, development, acquisition, and certification of safety-critical systems.

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr; 1 edition (February 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0769502997
• ISBN-13: 978-0769502991
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Medical Books > Medicine > Prosthesis

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good resource, October 24, 2000

By 

Scott Rideout (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Software Safety and Reliability: Techniques, Approaches, and Standards of Key Industrial Sectors (Practitioners) (Paperback)

Software Safety and Reliability is an excellent resource for those who want to learn more about software safety. By going into detail into the approaches taken by a number of respected organizations, the reader can take the best of each and apply them to their own problems.

The major weakness in the approach was the reliance on software reliability as the major tool. A system safety approach as advocated by Dr. Nancy Leveson is much more complete and effective than reliability. Her latest book, Safeware: System Safety and Computers is a better resource for those who are really interested in the "How to's" of an effective software safety program.

For the Software Safety professional, both references would be essential for your bookshelf.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Software safety standards intro, November 16, 2005

By 

Griffongate - See all my reviews

This review is from: Software Safety and Reliability: Techniques, Approaches, and Standards of Key Industrial Sectors (Practitioners) (Paperback)

Q. What's there to know about most software-intensive system safety standards?

A. They proscribe what is considered to be an appropriate level of software engineering rigor proportional to the risk associated with the development.

The objectives each standard requires are somewhat different - eg 50128 front loads on formal analysis, DO-178B emphasizes verification of expected behavior etc...

If you really need to know the difference between standards then chances are you need the standards in question. This book won't provide you a better insight than that. If you are in the business of system safety you will quickly outgrow the works of Hermann and Leveson.