Cyclomatic Complexity and Basis Path Testing Study

Abstract

The NASA Chief Engineer requested the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) to conduct a study to determine the benefits of cyclomatic complexity and basis path testing (BPT) for software and whether they should be required. The principal focus of the assessment was to assess the use of cyclomatic complexity and BPT on safety-critical software. The purpose was to ensure that safety-critical software is not overly complicated to the point of increasing coding errors and that verification is more robust than for non-safety-critical software. This document contains the outcome of the assessment.