MCDC is a ubiquitous technique used in software testing, but the tools that test it must also be appropriately qualified. In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch gives an overview of this code coverage criterion, explains its history and development, and shares his experiences with its advantages and disadvantages for tool qualification. You can find an in-depth description of MCDC in the article Oscar mentions in this episode, and you can learn more about the topic of code coverage in one of our pre...
Oct 19, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this week’s episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch takes you on a deep dive into the Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) — a crucial construct that is defined in the ISO 26262 safety standard. Join us to learn why the SEooC is an important concept for qualification of tools and libraries, why its use can be a great advantage, and whether it should be the provider or the integrator to qualify it. Our previously published episodes can serve as a practical guide into the elements defined in the ISO 26262 ...
Sep 28, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 36
In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch revisits the topic of tool confidence, clears misunderstandings, and explains the details of how tool confidence level (TCL) should be taken from the ISO 26262 safety standard into practice. For more information on TCL, listen to our discussions in Episode 07: Tool Confidence Level and Episode 19: Confidence , to learn about the crucial modeling tool used at Validas, join us in Episode 11: Tool Chain Analyzer , and for an in-depth explanation of validation, tun...
Sep 21, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 35
The process by which tools can have an impact on the safety of your project is not always straightforward or easy to understand. In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch devotes special attention to the ways in which tools can introduce or overlook errors and how we can determine their overall impact. Listen in for a summary of tool impact requirements and recommendations across different safety standards and models — including Oscar’s own experiences with special cases, such as model checkers and tim...
Sep 09, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch brings you an introduction to ISO 26262, the crucial safety standard used in the automotive industry — and one of Oscar’s fields of expertise. Join us to understand the purpose and role of ISO 26262, but also to learn about the concepts of the Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL), the Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA), and the Safety Element out of Context (SEooC). Whether you are new to safety standards or curious about the minute changes in the r...
Aug 03, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Do all tools need to be qualified, or can we simply trust the famous ones that have been used successfully in thousands of different environments? Tune in to our fourth short question episode to learn from Dr. Oscar Slotosch about why even famous tools need to be treated with care and where computer bugs really come from. For an introduction to qualification and its real-world importance, listen to our Episode 01: Why Tool Qualification? , Episode 12: Qualification Test Strategies , or Episode 3...
Jul 27, 2020•5 min
Effective mitigation measures, which have been introduced in part 7.4.4.8 of the second edition of the IEC 61508 standard, are crucial to efficient safety planning — but to construct an effective mitigation strategy, we first need to understand its precise definition in relevant safety standards and what the use of mitigations means for its required workload. In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch shares his experience with successful mitigation strategies, discusses Validas’s automated approach to ...
Jul 20, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 32
This episode brings you a special discussion of C++ exceptions, in which Dr. Oscar Slotosch and Jakob Riedle of Validas joined forces with Dr. Philipp Robbel, Principal of Mapless AI, an up-and-coming company conducting research in applied artificial intelligence and autonomous system safety. Tune in to learn about the way C++ exceptions are handled in safety-critical projects, which requirements common safety standards have for their use, and how Mapless AI integrates exceptions in their projec...
Jun 23, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 31
One of the most useful results of Validas’s research projects is PMT, the Process Modeling Tool used to fully model and manage safety-relevant processes at Validas. In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch talks about the development and implementation of some of its most useful features — from the ability to graphically depict a project’s safety plan, to its automated ticket generation. To freely access and use this tool for your own projects, visit Validas’s PMT webpage , and to learn more about its...
Jun 08, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In this week’s episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch discusses the details of safety compliance and its role in safety-relevant software projects. Join us to learn what safety standards require in terms of compliance, what is meant by safety integrity, why compliance reports should always be included your projects, and what procedure Validas uses to ensure compliance — efficiently and reliably. Join us in Episode 30 , where we talk about the Validas Process Modeling Tool (PMT) and its role in safety compli...
May 22, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 29
To successfully test a tool or a library, especially in safety-relevant projects, it is crucial to test for all important cases; in some situations, this can become increasingly difficult to do without automation. In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch discusses the usage and purpose of test case generators with Jakob Riedle, who has spent the past two years developing ForeC++ — Validas’s own test case generator. Join us to learn about the biggest challenges in creating a test case generator, how th...
May 10, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 28
After a crucial introduction to the role of code coverage in qualification, in our Episode 26 , Dr. Oscar Slotosch gives an in-depth analysis of the methods, procedures, and pitfalls in the qualification of compilers. Join us to learn which properties of compilers make them so difficult to qualify, why source code coverage doesn’t provide a sufficient argument for qualification, where it is likely to find flows in existing test strategies for compiler qualification — and how Validas approaches t...
Apr 29, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch discusses the role of code coverage in the qualification of tools and libraries. Tune in to learn about how code coverage is applied in a safety analysis, the importance of the modified condition/decision coverage (MCDC) criterion in software testing, and why code coverage analysis is strongly recommended, but almost never required by modern safety standards. To learn more about MCDC, listen to our Episode 37: Modified Condition/Decision Coverage , and for more...
Apr 20, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Despite the restrictions imposed by the ongoing global pandemic, the work at Validas continues — even if it is from home — and this includes our podcast. In this episode we return to the basics to discuss qualification kits and, in particular, Validas’s own QKit. Join us to learn how the first instance of QKit was developed, which features of a qualification kit are useful for a customer, and how you can recognize a bad one. For more insight into qualification kits, listen to some of our previou...
Apr 13, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 25
To expand on our last episode, in which we discussed tool chains, Dr. Oscar Slotosch talks to Robert Reitmeier — Validas’s own expert on tool chain modeling. In this episode Robert explains each step of the process of tool chain modeling for safety-relevant projects, shares tips on how to use Validas’s Tool Chain Analyzer to its full power, and reveals what new features his team is soon hoping to develop. To learn about the role of tool chain analysis, listen to Episode 23: Tool Chains , and to ...
Mar 09, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Tool chains are more than just sets of interconnected tools — in a safety analysis, they are often the crucial component, albeit not one that is trivial to manage. In this episode we discuss why we should be paying attention to tool chains when building a software project, how tool chains should be documented, and what requirements safety standards impose on their definition. In our next episode we explore the practical matters in tool chain modeling with Validas’s own Robert Reitmeier — give it...
Feb 26, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 23
If you have been listening to our podcast, you might have wondered about Validas — the types of projects we work on and the mission of Validas in the world of tool and library qualification. You’re in luck; the two CEOs of Validas, Dr. Oscar Slotosch and Dr. Peter Braun, have come together to discuss the successes and challenges of their company, the types of customers they work with, their favorite research projects, and the future of Validas itself. To learn more about why we do what we do, li...
Feb 13, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In safety-relevant projects, you either need to mitigate for potential errors each time you interact with a tool or you need to qualify it — but can tool qualification save you money? In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch explains how to correctly evaluate whether all the cost and effort put toward mitigation can be lessened by a well thought out tool qualification, and how to find out if you could be saving money by using qualified tools. To learn more about tool qualification and its practical ap...
Jan 28, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In this episode, Dr. Oscar Slotosch sat down for a conversation with Marcel Beemster, the CTO of Solid Sands — the one-stop-shop for C and C++ compiler and library testing, validation, and safety services. They discuss all the things that can go wrong with a compiler, where the biggest challenges in compiler use come from, and how Marcel and his team use the Solid Sands’ SuperTest validation suite. Tune in to learn about compiler development and testing from Oscar and Marcel. More information on...
Jan 15, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 20
What is confidence in the safety of tools and libraries, and how do you buy or create it for your own products? Within safety standards, confidence is a clearly defined technical term, but it relies on subjective evaluation — so how can you be confident in the safety of the tools you use? In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch explains the importance of confidence for safety-critical projects and reflects on the focus recent safety standards have begun to give it. To learn more about how confidence ...
Nov 11, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 19
How can you tell if the tool you are using has been qualified? Tune in to our third bonus question episode with Dr. Oscar Slotosch to find out how this complicated question can have a simple answer. To find out more about the reliability of your tools, join us in Question 04: Do famous tools need to be qualified? and Question 07: What is a growing QKit? , or listen to our first full-length episode, Episode 01: Why Tool Qualification? , for an introduction to the benefits of qualification. Your p...
Nov 04, 2019•3 min
In this week’s episode, Dr. Oscar Slotosch explores the importance of the Tool Safety Manual — an essential part of qualification documentation and the only resource the end user has to help them use a tool safely. Learn how tool safety manuals are created and how you can use them responsibly, but also what it is that makes a tool safety manual good. At the end of this episode, Oscar announces a special project: Validas’s online database of good tool qualification kits. To learn more about the d...
Oct 28, 2019•22 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Even though non-deterministic compilers may not be ideal for use in a safety-relevant project, they can still be qualified. Our new question episode goes beyond the usual topics of compiler qualification and answers the question of whether — and how — non-deterministic compilers can be qualified. For a detailed discussion on compiler qualification, join us in Episode 27: Compiler Qualification , or listen to our interview episode in which Dr. Oscar Slotosch and Marcel Beemster of Solid Sands dis...
Oct 21, 2019•8 min
Did ISO 26262 abolish tool qualification in its second edition? In our first bonus episode, Dr. Oscar Slotosch explains why the answer is quite to the contrary — the second edition of ISO 26262 has put an even stronger emphasis on tool qualification. To learn more about ISO 26262 and other safety standards, listen to our full-length episodes, Episode 33: ISO 26262 , Episode 36: Safety Element out of Context — SEooC , and Episode 06: Safety Standards . Your producer and friendly representative of...
Oct 07, 2019•6 min
Unlike tools, libraries are elements in software development that get directly used in a finished product — therefore, their reliability and safety is paramount. In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch introduces you to the topic of library qualification and explains what makes it so crucial. Join us to learn how to safely use publicly available libraries, how Validas qualifies libraries, which special properties must be checked in library qualification, and much more. To go back to the basics and le...
Sep 30, 2019•22 min•Season 1Ep. 16
What is a good qualification and how can you recognize it? In this episode Dr. Oscar Slotosch shares his experience and insights on what makes a QKit good — and what makes it bad. Does it save you time and money, or does it sow doubt in your users? Join us and learn how to recognize the crucial elements of a good, reliable qualification. To learn how effective qualification can make your safety-relevant project better and less expensive, listen to our Episode 21: How to Save Money by Tool Qualif...
Sep 16, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Creating and maintaining a reliable set of qualification documents is one of the most important tasks of a tool provider or user. In this episode we delve into the topic of documentation, list the mandatory and recommended documents that should be included in every qualification, and discuss how different types of qualification require different approaches in documentation. Oscar also includes a few stories and talks about Validas’s perspective on why good documentation matters. A highlight of V...
Sep 02, 2019•22 min•Season 1Ep. 14
This episode features an interview with Claudio Gregorio, a functional safety expert working at TÜV SÜD — a leading independent technical service provider. To understand Claudio’s role and duties in the assessment and certification of software components, Dr. Oscar Slotosch puts himself in the shoes of a tool provider and finds out the answers to all his burning questions on certificates, safety manuals, and the relationship between certification authorities and software tool providers. To learn...
Aug 19, 2019•24 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This week’s episode is an introduction to qualification test strategies — join Dr. Oscar Slotosch to learn about qualification testing and how it differs from quality testing, how a test strategy is designed, and what principles should be followed when deciding how many test cases to run. In this episode we will also help you determine the exact number of test cases required for an efficient qualification test. Learn about the basics of qualification testing in Episode 04: Qualification Processe...
Jul 29, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 12
The Tool Chain Analyzer (TCA) is a crucial part of Validas’s framework — it is used to model complex tool chain features and their dependencies, with the ultimate goal of making your qualification project as simple and as automated as possible. In this week’s episode, Dr. Oscar Slotosch explains why the way you model your tool chain matters and how the TCA is usually used for safety-relevant projects, but also shares news about the TCA features that are currently in development at Validas. To tr...
Jul 22, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 11
