CSE 4317 Homework 4

Due: July 6, 2001 by midnight (no late submissions accepted)

Submit via email to holder@cse.uta.edu (not to Red!).

I. Read the article "Evaluation of Safety-Critical Software" by Parnas et al. on pages 187-199 (pages 165-177 in 1st edition) and answer the following questions, according to the article.

  1. What are the important implications of the limitations on software testing as a method of assuring correctness?

  2. What reviews of software are needed to help ensure correctness?

  3. What are the three classes of programs identified in the article, and what is suggested as necessary in order to establish reliability estimates for programs in each class?

  4. The article asserts that "The safety and trustworthiness of the system will rest on a tripod...." What are the elements of the tripod? Which of these do you think is the weakest element? Why?

II. Answer the following questions about whistle blowing.

  1. What is the sequence of stages you should go through before blowing the whistle outside of your organization?

  2. What is the False Claims Act and how does it relate to whistle blowing? Why would some large corporations lobby for weakening this law?

  3. Who is covered and in what way by the Federal Whistle Blower Protection Act?

  4. What is Taxpayers Against Fraud?

  5. Give a one-paragraph description and a reference to a recent event (last two years) involving whistle blowing. This should be modeled after the whistle-blowing accounts in the "Additional Assignments" at the end of Chapter 7. Your event must be different from those already listed in the "Additional Assignments" section and under the Individual Presentation topics on the course web page.