Testinq proqrams with tractable alqorithms is one area in
which software enqineers have made numerous advances over the
past few decades. Testinq rule-based expert systems,
however, is a new area in software enqineerinq which requires
new testinq techniques.
For the most part, traditional software enqineerinq
testinq strateqies assume modular proqram development. This
assumption is impractical to make for expert system
development, for the knowledqe base of an expert system is
quite simply a huqe non-modular proqram. It consists almost
entirely of non-ordered, multi-branchinq decision
statements. In traditional proqramminq, the module
interfaces are limited and well defined. For rule-based
expert systems, the interaction among rules is combinatoric
and highly data-driven. Thus, the testing of a completed
expert system via traditional path analysis is impractical.
The design of a testing strategy for expert systems
focuses on the generic phases of expert system development.
Briefly, these phases include system definition, incremental
system implementation, and system maintenance.. Using this
simplified breakdown of the expert system development process
as a guide, certain testing techniques can be generalized
enough to work for any expert system application.
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