Skip to main content

Software Quality Assurance for Mathematical Modeling Systems

  • Conference paper
  • 894 Accesses

Part of the book series: Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series ((ORCS,volume 29))

Abstract

With increasing importance placed on standard quality assurance methodologies by large companies and government organizations, many software companies have implemented rigorous quality assurance (QA) processes to ensure that these standards are met. The use of standard QA methodologies cuts maintenance costs, increases reliability, and reduces cycle time for new distributions. Modeling systems differ from most software systems in that a model may fail to solve to optimality without the modeling system being defective. This additional level of complexity requires specific QA activities. To make software quality assurance (SQA) more cost-effective, the focus is on reproducible and automated techniques. In this paper we describe some of the main SQA methodologies as applied to modeling systems. In particular, we focus on configuration management, quality control, and testing as they are handled in the GAMS build framework, emphasizing reproducibility, automation, and an open-source public-domain framework.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Brooke, A. Kendrick, D., and Meeraus, A. (1988). GAMS: A User’s Guide, San Francisco, CA: The Scientific Press.

    Google Scholar 

  2. American Society for Quality. (2004). Online at http://www.asq.org/.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bussieck, MR., Drud, A.S., Meeraus, A. and Pruessner, A. (2002). Quality Assurance and Global Optimization. C. Bliek, C. Jermann, A. Neumaier, eds. Global Optimization and Constraint Satisfaction, First International Workshop on Global Constraint Optimization and Constraint Satisfaction, COCOS 2002, LNCS 2861. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg Berlin, (223–238).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Dolan, E.D. and More, J.J. (2002). Benchmarking optimization software with performance profiles, Math. Programming, 91(2) (201–213).

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. Dolan, E.D. and Mora, J.J. (2000). Benchmarking optimization software with COPS, Technical Report ANL/MCS-TM-246, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Drud, A.S. (2002). Testing and Tuning a New Solver Version Using Performance Tests, INFORMS San Jose, Session on “Benchmarking & Performance Testing of Optimization Software”. See http://www.gams.com/presentations/present_performance.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Fourer, R. and Gay, D.M. (1993). AMPL: A Modeling Language for Mathematical Programming, Redwood City: The Scientific Press.

    Google Scholar 

  8. GAMS Development Corporation. (2004). GAMS-The Solver Manuals. GAMS Development Corporation, Washington, DC: http://www.gams.com/solvers/allsolvers.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Hamilton, L.D., Goldstein, G.A. et al. (1992). MARCAL-MACRO: An Overview, Biomedical and Environmental Assessment Group, Technical Report BNL-48377. Analytical Sciences Division, Department of Applied Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Associated Universities.

    Google Scholar 

  10. International Organization for Standardization. (2004). Online at http://www.iso.org.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Mittelmann, H.D. (2003). An Independent Benchmarking of SDP and SOCP solvers. Mathematical Programming. 95, (407–430).

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. Moore, J.W. (1998). Software Engineering Standards: A User’s Road Map. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  13. PAVER Server (2004). Online at http://www.gamsworld.org/performance/paver.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Pressman, R.S. (1997). Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, 4th Edition, Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Schrage, L.S. (1991). Lindo-An Optimization Modeling System, Scientific Press series, Fourth ed., Danvers, MA: Boyd and Fraser.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Software Engineering Institute. (1994). The Capability Maturity Model: Guidelines for Improving the Software Process. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Shcherbina, O. Neumaier, A. Sam-Haroud, D. Vu, X.-H. and Nguyen, T.V. (2003). Benchmarking Global Optimization and Constraint Satisfaction Codes. C. Bliek, C. Jermann, A. Neumaier, eds. Global Optimization and Constraint Satisfaction, First International Workshop on Global Constraint Optimization and Constraint Satisfaction, COCOS 2002, LNCS 2861. Heidelberg Berlin: Springer Verlag. (223–238).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

About this paper

Cite this paper

Bussieck, M.R., Dirkse, S.P., Meeraus, A., Pruessner, A. (2005). Software Quality Assurance for Mathematical Modeling Systems. In: Golden, B., Raghavan, S., Wasil, E. (eds) The Next Wave in Computing, Optimization, and Decision Technologies. Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series, vol 29. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23529-9_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23529-9_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-23528-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-23529-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics