Chapter 8: Verification and Validation

The modeling that has been introduced so far in this book has been concerned with the creation of a number of views that are related to specifying and defining the system and that contribute to delivering the successful system. Remember that the main aim of systems engineering is to deliver successful systems.

Alongside these modeling activities, it is also important to be able to test that what we have produced is correct, and this is done in two main ways, which are as follows:

• Verification: This helps us to demonstrate that the system works. This was summed up, very famously, by Boehm by asking the question have we built the system right?"
• Validation: This helps us to demonstrate that the system actually does what it is supposed to – that it is fit for purpose. This was again summed up neatly by Boehm by asking the question have we built the right system?

It is essential that the system can be both verified...